9/11

  Lori took the summer off from work because she was burnt out from school and work. That and she hated her job. She hated her job so much it was making her miserable. At this point her misery had been taking a toll on me, so I supported her quitting her job.

  The problem with her being unemployed was the lack of human contact during the day. When I usually got home from work, I used to have an hour or so to decompress, read the newspaper and just be able to wind down for the day. Now, she was always excited to see me that she would want to talk and ask me questions and while normally, it would be fine, it was overwhelming when I just got home.

  By the end of summer, the economy was getting worse and then September 11th happened.

  I had gotten to work just before 7:00 AM like I always do. Most of my co-workers were watching the news in the break room when I headed towards the back. Eric informed me that a plane had just hit one of the Twin Towers. At the time I wasn’t too concerned. The news had reported that they didn’t know how large a plane had hit the tower and I told Eric that planes have crashed into The Empire State Building before. Those buildings were designed to withstand that sort of impact. I had started to do my morning work while periodically checking the news with everyone.

  We were discussing the situation when another plane hit the second tower. Like most people, I immediately realized that this was no accident and that this was a deliberate attack. I had gotten that sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach, but even at that moment, I never thought that one of those towers would fall. Especially if a plane hit it at full speed and it didn’t fall.

  Every morning I moved the bank’s backup tapes off site to a storage facility. This day, I made a stop at home to see Lori. I just needed to see her. I ended up waking her up and telling her what happened. I also picked up my cell phone. Then I went back to work.

  That was when the Pentagon was hit and the towers began to fall.

  When that first tower fell, that was when my world changed. Terrorist attacks I had accepted as something that happened. I was living in New York when they tried to blow up the tower before. I just didn’t think they would be capable of taking one down. I knew going back to New York and never seeing the skyline the way it was again was going to cause me to feel hollow inside. The thought of all those lives lost and a visual reminder always being there by the absence of something that had always been. I remember trying to recall the last time I saw both towers with my own eyes. I had driven Liz down the Belt Parkway earlier that summer when I visited because it was a great view of the skyline at night with all of the lights.

   I called my parents, although I knew they’d be fine. They told me that my cousin was a few buildings away, but he was okay. They also told me, that Mark had called them from overseas to check on them. I was more concerned with both Matt and Denver who worked in the city. I was unable to get through to them. Most cell phone service in New York City was overwhelmed.

By the afternoon I had gotten through to Denver. He was with Matt, and they were currently walking across the Brooklyn Bridge by foot, because all Mass Transit had been shut down. It was a bit of a hike for a lot of people, but compared to what others were going through, no one was complaining.

  They declared the following Friday as a National Day of Mourning. They were holding a candlelight vigil in front of the Denver Capital Building for the lives lost. I’m not usually one to join in those sorts of things, but I felt helpless in Colorado, while my friends In NY were hurting. It started very somber and meaningful, but about halfway through, a group of college age ‘protesters’ took the opportunity to preach their beliefs and rail against war.

  Lori and I were so disgusted we both wrote letters to the Denver Post Editorial page. Her letter was more diplomatic and got published. Mine… not so much, even after Lori edited it down. Here was my original letter.

To the Editor:
I went to the recent candlelight vigil held at the
Capital Building here in Colorado to seek solace and
to mourn our great loss. I felt pain and hurt. I
wanted to be with others who felt the same. I should
have gone to Washington Park instead.
Friday was a day of mourning. Not a time to get on
a soapbox and preach to me your anti-war propaganda.
There is plenty of time to debate the issue of
retaliation. There is a time and a place for it and this
was not it. What was done was opportunistic in nature
and appalling. Everyone else there who encouraged
it is as equally guilty. I felt dirty just being
there.
I listened to what you had to say nonetheless, and
you made a valid point. No one wants war. After that
you had nothing. You call for unity, yet you fight the
majority. You even silenced the few chanting “USA”
saying they had their chance to speak. You say war is
a strong answer, but not the strongest. Well, my
friend, you didn’t tell me what is the strongest
answer. Is it non-violent protest?
The World Trade Center was bombed before, but
that’s okay. Only six lives were lost, so nothi

ng was
really done to stop terrorism. Then our naval ships
become the subject of a terrorist attack. More lost
life, but that’s okay. We did nothing about it. That
showed them. Oh wait, they attacked the World Trade
Center again, this time with more than 5,000
casualties. Hmmm… maybe if we don’t retaliate and ask
for peace, they’ll just get bored and leave us alone.
I’ve got news for you. You can’t negotiate peace with
people who won’t show you who they are. But hey, if we
openly ask for peace, maybe they’ll show themselves
and come to the negotiating table.
I came for a silent vigil. What I got was an
idealistic college student who attended a silent vigil with a
megaphone. I thought college is supposed to prepare
you for the real world? I’m a New Yorker, two years
removed and it was apparent to me that I hurt more
than some of these people. Chant your protests on your own
time, not on our Nation’s day of mourning. Until then,
I will mourn with the other 99% of the population and
stay home.”