9th Anniversary of 3/11

I was in 3rd grade when the earthquake struck Tokyo, and had a day off due to parent-teacher conferencing. I remember being at my friend's house and getting ready to leave her house after a sleepover, when I felt this tremendous shaking throughout the whole entire house. At first I thought it was just her little brother jumping on the bed, but as the shaking increased, her parents yelled at us to get under the table and cover our heads. It was at this point that I started to get scared, and with this being (probably) one of the first earthquakes I had ever experienced, I had no idea what was happening or what to expect. The water in her goldfish tank poured out violently, taking one of her fish along with it. When the tremors stopped, we immediately turned on the TV and saw the devastating effects of the tsunami occurring not too far from Tokyo. Some of the water even reached areas of Tokyo, and while it was only around 3-5cm of water, one of my friend's worried for her mom working in these areas. While no one that I knew personally ever got hurt or were directly affected by the effects of the earthquake, tsunami, or the Fukushima nuclear disaster, I believe that it is important to look back on these memories, and to truly acknowledge all those affected by its detrimental effects to this day. Fukushima is still not completely rebuilt, and neither are many other towns that were damaged by the earthquake and tsunami. Still, after 9 years, there are people struggling, and Japan continues to stay resilient and attempt to rebuild the country. While it is true that there are many other 'big events' happening currently, such as the presidential election and the ever-growing concerns of the corona virus, we must not forget the progress that Japan has made since, and the progress that we continue to make now.