ohbloodyhell8

I was watching Little House on the Prairie on TBS when the footage of the Twin Towers cut into the broadcast.  I went downstairs and told Hubby that a plane had crashed into one of the towers.  He looked at me as if I was sleepwalking because I sometimes do.  He followed me upstairs and I flipped through different channels showing him.  I then wondered where my sister was since she worked at Central Park giving eco-tours at the time and commuted there from her apartment in Brooklyn.  I called my mom and she had heard from my sister who was unharmed and walking back to Brooklyn with the masses.
As the plane flew into the second tower I felt as if a character in a surrealist’s play.  When the towers came down I cried and flashed on memories of being in the observation deck, of thinking that any children I might ever have would only know of these through pictures, of the horror of it all.  Very egocentric thoughts, but I guess those were my way of shielding myself.  I tried to erase the images of the people who jumped, of the buildings crashing down.
Today it still haunts me.  A friend decided to buy a cd that morning so he is still alive today.  A friend from church had a meeting rescheduled at the last minute so he is still alive.  My sister’s life changed after that day.  It was such a beautiful day that say she left her windows open for the breeze.  Her apartment had a great view of the Twin Towers and the wind was blowing toward Brooklyn that day.  When she finally got home after walking with only her shirt over her mouth and nose, it was to an apartment filled with ash and dust.  She has been told she has 9/11 cough.  I am thankful she is alive, that she wasn’t on the subway at the wrong time on her way to work, but still her life will never be the same.

I think that day should always haunt us.  I think it should always remind us to stand strong together.  I wish the streets were still lined with US flags as they were immediately after that day.  I think we need to continue to work to understand all the people in our world to find peaceful resolutions to conflicts.  I think we need to remember we are strong, but can be vulnerable.