Chapter+12

Chapter 12 August 31, 2005

Dear Journal,

I totally forgot about this thing until I cleaned my room today. It’s so weird looking back and seeing how things have changed. My parents were right, I do want to look back and see what I was thinking in the past. I remember being so scared about moving. It turns out it wasn’t that bad. I had to get used to a new lifestyle, a new house, and new people. Grandma did pass away after we moved to Brooklyn, but I am happy I could spend more time with her these past few years. Meeting other kids my age who were affected by 9/11 was the most interesting part of the move. I didn’t realize how much I could learn about people’s families, ethnicity, religion or background from talking to them. We had good times and bad times, but we are all still friends now. Aasmaa taught me how you can’t make judgments about people just by looking at them. I put her into a category when I met her, and boy was I wrong! Little did I know she had an amazing story to tell me about her life. I never thought about people like her who were affected by 9/11 because of what the terrorists did. I didn’t know what Islam or a hijab was until she told me. Going to Tolerance on Tuesdays taught me so much. I will never watch the news or read a story on the Internet the same way again. All of those stories are about people on this earth that we may meet in this life, and they all have something special to share with you. Sam is still one of my really good friends. Luckily his dad has been getting some more treatment from the Veteran’s clinic for his PTSD. He says their family is feeling a little more “normal” now. I am still so proud of Sam for helping out the other military family when their dad was killed. Sam taught me what it was like to have courage and strength and use that to help other people. The military community he belongs to is a huge part of his life. I never thought about what you can learn from a community of people, especially in tough times. If they didn’t have these ways to help each other out, I don’t even want to think about what this country would be like. I am thankful Sam taught me the selfless ways to help out in a tragedy. I don’t think Sam will ever realize the lesson he gave me. Martin, he was a difficult one. It took me a while to get him to open up and see what his real issues were. He looked at me as being different because of my skin color and where he came from. Little did he know that after we talked more we would become really close. He told me how his dad was killed in the towers and life has never been the same. I am thankful that because of my other friends I was able to help him out with this tragedy. He didn’t think I knew anything, because I wasn’t from the city. I think he was wrong about that! Getting involved in the 9/11 community center was so good for him. He learned about others that are like him in the tragedy they share. These same people are different in how they look or the background they come from. This has helped him so much in school and focusing on his artwork. I’m glad he gave me the chance to show him there is always hope even when it feels like the worst isn’t over. I think I’m going to hold on to this journal. It will probably be even better to read when I get a lot older. I hope in ten years I will have more stories to add of people I have met, differences I have experienced, and changes I have made. If everyone was just more open to listening to others and helping out however they can, we could all live in such a better world.