9/11/2001 Interview

What is your name, and how old were you on Sept 11, 2001?
     Kayla Marie Gruver; 7 years old

What did you experience on Sept 11, 2001?
     She remembers that she was in third grade and when she came to her mom's classroom at school, she didn't understand why her mom was skeptical about taking her in public.  Her father was there as well, which was unusual.  She went to dance class with her parents and then went home and saw the news on TV.

Where were you when you found out about the events?
     She found out something bad happened that involved planes from her mom at school and heard the full news story at home.

What time of day did you find out?
     After school (afternoon)

Why didn't your school disclose the information about the event to students?
     She believes that it was because the school didn't want to scare children and wanted their parents to tell them what happened with their own censors

How did you hear about it?
     Parents warned to be cautious, TV for full story

How did your parents react to this?
     Mother was very upset and sat in front of the TV crying and father consoled her and explained to Kayla about the "bad people" who did this

Were any of your close friends or family directly impacted?
     No, she didn't know anyone in New York at the time

Did your daily life change?
     She became much more cautious, showed more anxiety in crowded places, and became paranoid throughout her adult life

Do you do anything special to remember this day?
     She prays every September 11th for families of victims and workers that were killed within this tragedy