There are not very many good things I remember about the year 2001. In March of that year I lost my Dad suddenly, he was just 67. In that Spring five of my friends lost their Dad's as well. It was a Spring of funerals and by Summer we were still stunned and recovering from these losses.
As the Summer ended, the weather was beautiful. My Mom didn't cry everyday and we looked forward to the wedding or our best friend's daughter on 9/22. She was the first child born to any of our close friends so life was coming full circle.
On September 11, 2001, I had a great job as a rep with a cosmetics company and on that day I had an appointment forty five miles away from home. Left early, the sky was a brilliant blue and I was listening to my favorite radio morning show when I heard that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I called my husband to tell him what I heard and we deduced that it was some sick joke. Just minutes later and hearing the timbre of the DJ's voice, I knew that this had happened. Horribly, it happened again and again while I was still on the road. I finally stopped at a Wal-Mart and rushed to the TV section to see what was going on. I ended up sitting on the floor there for an hour surrounded by so many doing the same. When I could finally get up I went home, to hell with work! Upon knowing that my loved ones were safe, I knew I was blessed that I did not personally know anyone who perished senselessly that day, but it felt like I did.
As I arrived home, my answering machine held a call from someone telling me how the Seniors should be showcased in an upcoming issue of a HS newsletter which I edited. I was appaulded that this call came at about noon. I never called this lady back. I turned on the TV and proceeded to find anything red, white and blue to decorate my front lawn. In my then 46 years, I had never felt so patriotic and violated. The days that followed were consumed by the images of these violent attacks, the tears of loss, heroics and how this could happen to our great country.
Alas, all of our lives changed forever on September 11, 2001. My great job that took me to some of the most exotic places in the US was soured for me when within days I was sent flags and other props to promote a cologne that happened to have the word "American" in its title and was packaged in red, white and blue. I found this totally tasteless. Ironically, because of these attacks this wonderful position only lasted a few more years. The even better one I got after that had seen its heyday before 9/11. Everything changed.
As a result we can no longer walk our loved ones to an airline boarding gate. We now have to watch our belongings and let our bodies be tampered with before we can go to that gate. We once only feared a plane crash as a result of a mechanical failure, we now know that this is the least of our worries. We lost our innocence, such as it was and began to question everything.
Sure there was the Pearl Harbor attack on what was then a territory of the US. On 9/11 thousands lost their lives in the greatest city on earth by simply getting up on that Tuesday morning and going to work. We will never forget.
No comments:
Post a Comment