[This is me, from 09/10/2006. –GSS]
Cathy and I watched The Path to 9/11 on television tonight. I had forgotten that we were in Metro New York for the Turn of the Millennium. My father lives in Connecticut, and we went there that year for New Year’s Day. The photo you see is my son crawling all over a bronze statue of a stock broker in Liberty Park, directly across from what was then the Merrill Lynch Building — on December 30, 1999. I lived in Manhattan for ten years, from 1976 to 1986. For quite a few of those years, I worked just across from Liberty Park, in the Equitable Building at 120 Broadway. At the other end of that little brick park was the southeast entrance to the World Trade Center complex. I worked insane hours in those days, and, very often, when I got out of work, I would go sit at this tiny circular plaza plopped down between the Twin Towers. Not quite pre-dawn, still full dark, but completely deserted — and to be completely alone in New York City is an accomplishment. I would throw my head back and look up at the towers, the fourth movement of the Ninth Symphony running note-perfect through my head.
Everything I am describing was either destroyed or heavily damaged on September 11, 2001. Along with the lives of thousand of innocents. Along with the comfort and serenity of their families. Along with the peace of the entire world.
I don’t believe in any heaven except for this earth, this life — the heaven we make every day by pursuing the highest and best within us. The World Trade Center had its faults. I can detail every one. But it was a piece of the sublime, a proud testament to how high, how good our highest and best can be. I don’t believe in heaven, but when I think of what was done that day, I pray there is an everlasting torment for the men who did it…
Technorati Tags: 9/11
Brad Coy says:
Your remembrance brings up so many of my own. I can place in almost absolute detail every sensation I felt that morning. The aftermath of not hearing from my friends who lived in the area, no more than two blocks away from the towers. The following relief that not one of my friends or family was harmed more than the shock and horror of trying to escape the neighborhood as their windows shattered and neighborhood turned upside down and churned.
At the time I was planning on moving to Manhattan and followed through 8 months later. I spent a few years as well working around Tribeca, sometimes for a couple of months at a time. My memories of the entire neighborhood are wrought with the wreckage of what happened on 9/11. The resilience of those who lived and lost through this nightmare is truly amazing. You could not be more correct when you say that our comfort and serenity has been heavily damaged – I saw it on the faces of New Yorkers on the train every single day. There is a courage to life and it’s about being alive. We should not take it for granted any one of our waking days. My heartfelt love for all those affected by this attack on America. :: with tears :: – Brad
September 10, 2008 — 8:03 pm
Greg Swann says:
Beautiful. Touching. Thanks.
September 10, 2008 — 8:19 pm
Sue says:
I remember the day well. I live about 40 minutes from New York. I had the TV on that morning but mute and I thought it was a movie of some sort. I actually left the house and still didn’t realize what had happened until I turned on the radio. The streets were deserted…like the end of the world. I had been heading for a mall…everyone was scurrying to their cars and going home. We weren’t sure what might be the next target. Most of the towns I sell real estate in are along the train line into New York. Many of the residents work in New York and live there specifically for that train line. There were entire blocks of homes that suffered losses. It was quite devastating. There were some friends who were unreachable for many hours, but thankfully were ok.
September 11, 2008 — 4:25 am
Marc says:
Soo many families lost a mother or a father, hundreds of firefighters and now more than four thousand of our soldiers overseas….
I am still figuring out how to explain it to my kids. I guess this is what the country felt like after pearl harbor and its way harder to get over than i possibly imagined. and now looking at the middle east and iraq on the news it seems impossible for some of those countries to recover.
man im hoping there is a heaven because some of the tribulations people are enduring through across the globe are horrible. from darfur, to burma, to china boy is there a lot of work to do.
September 11, 2008 — 6:38 pm
Steven Leung says:
I remember going to a trade show in NY the week after. Our flight path took us over what had happened and you could feel the stillness in the cabin as we passed overhead.
For the handful of us who were at the show, we walked around a with a little more camaraderie, in a way united through a very small act of defiance, just by going about our business as usual.
I went to the site and still don’t fully understand everything that I saw. I mean, you see it, and you acknowledge that it happened and you’re enveloped in the inescapable smell of the particles that are still floating in the air a week later. And the magnitude is still incomprehensible.
But within the loss, you realize exactly how much we’ve built and how resilient the fabric of our society is, when you can stand there and watch everybody else, in their own very small acts of defiance, just trying to go on as usual.
September 12, 2008 — 3:49 am
Stacy says:
Marc does not know what to tell his kids 🙂 but I have to think about what to tell a few hundred kids. Their ages range from like 2-8 also, so each group will need a different lesson on the subject.
I am having such hard time trying to figure how to put this in a way that wont freak out the kids. Is there any way to explain? I still remember how all my school kids took it the first time, boy it wasnt good.
Once again i would like to send my deepest condolences to all the families who lost loved ones on this horrible day and all the civil service workers who charged in head first despite the peril should be honored with an annual event just like the emmys, oscars, grammys and others. Soo many awards for celebs and none for real heroes…
September 12, 2008 — 7:53 am
Anthony says:
Most Americans can connect pretty easily one way or another with the World Trade Center and 9/11. This very personal reflection is a powerful one.
September 12, 2008 — 8:41 am
Greg Dallaire says:
My thoughts and prayers goes out to everyone of the attack of 9/11. I was growing up as a young adult during this time. I remember sitting in class and they started wheeling in TV’s into the classrooms.
That day has forever affected me and I will never forget it.
I pray for the safety of our country everyday.
September 11, 2009 — 7:40 pm
Robert Worthington says:
I was at work listening to the radio when a song was interrupted by radio dj explaining the chaos coming from New York City. I remember the stomach turning emotions going through my body. I was working at a local metal fabrication shop at the time; around noon or so central time I will never forget that bone chilling experience. God bless everyone on the highest, this was a sad day nobody will ever forget even if a person has Alzheimer’s disease. All of the deceased and injured and effected families will be forever remembered and in our prayers.
September 13, 2009 — 9:31 am