The Justin and Jessica Chronicles: Part Nine

My senior at Mosley began like all the rest, but this time, it would be different. I was graduating early so all I had to do was suck it up for five more months. I spent off campus lunches with Justin and occasionally skipped my fourth period to catch up on Wonder Years reruns. Justin and I felt an odd connection to the onscreen romance of Winnie Cooper and Kevin Arnold.

About a month into my senior year, I was sitting in my U.S. Government class when our teacher interrupted a test. We knew something was wrong because her face appeared white and her hands were shaking like crazy.

“We cannot continue class today” he says, “something terrible has happened and you must watch it on the TV for yourselves.” The date was September 11, 2001.

My classmates and I grip our desks in fear as we watch the second tower of the World Trade Center come crashing down.

Our principal comes over the intercom and announces that our school is closing for the remainder of the day. I immediately call Justin on my way home.

“Where are you?” he says in desperation.

“I just left school,” I respond.

“Meet me at my house,” he says.

Like all Americans, we spent the rest of our day glued to the television; feeling heartbroken and scared for our country.

A  week later, Justin, Brian, Emily and I have tickets to an Aerosmith concert (my first) in Atlanta, GA. Our nation is still in a state of emergency, and we wonder if the concert will be canceled, or if its even safe to attend.

When the band announces on their website that they will not be canceling the show; I know I do not want to miss it.

Aerosmith comes out and opens with a song from their latest album “Just Push Play” called, Beyond Beautiful. As the band emerges on stage, a massive projector screen displays a video of an American Flag billowing in the wind.

Steven Tyler sings, “Yeah, she’s beyond beautiful, she never been nobody’s fool that you can fuck with.”

The amphitheater erupts as 20 thousand people stand to their feet in salute of our American flag. That night I went from being an Aerosmith fan to an Aerosmith junkie, and I walked away feeling empowered to be an American.