9/11 made me believe in evil things again
So, I had a heartbreaking day today.
It rained, which was perfectly apropos.
Wasn’t planning on writing anything – every two-bit hack with a computer writes something about the day and I didn’t wanna be another one.
But here I am. Makes sense; I am a two-bit hack with a computer.
I’ve lived here my whole life. I had one of my first elementary school class trips to see those buildings. I remember I was scared to look up at them because I thought they might fall on me.
After college I worked on the 2nd Floor. Wheelock NatWest. Then again about a decade ago. Mancini Duffy. My brother worked there once.
My sister went to school in their shadow.
They were always there.
That’s why when you lose someone close to you, it’s so heartbreaking. It’s because they’re always there. And then one day, poof. They’re gone.
The scene I remember most is that of strangers gathered around cars, the city quiet, save for the radios.
Can you see it?
Cars stopped along Broadway with their radios on full blast for strangers? No music, no commercials, just the news. Everyone quiet and craning their neck so they could hear the latest bit of misery.
I believed in evil again that day. I believe in it now. I remember thinking of that line from American Pie that goes, I saw satan laughing with delight, the day the music died.
I’m not a good enough writer to put into words how I felt then or feel now. So I’ll just say that I had a heartbreaking day today.
It rained, which was perfectly apropos.
Location: in my living room, trying not to be depressed
Mood: see location
Music: and there we were all in one place
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3 replies on “What I remember”
My mom used to live in Brooklyn. Her apartment was shabby, but she had a gorgeous view of those two buildings. Those times when I was with her, they were the first two things I saw in the morning and the last two things I saw before I went to bed. That image is so ingrained in my head that sometimes I forget it no longer exists. Guess I'm still in denial.
I'm still in denial myself.
The other night one of the other NYer English teachers out here asked me to go to a jazz bar and we sat and shared our stories from that day. Just something that needed to be done.