It seems incredible to me that ten years has already passed since 9-11 stopped being my friend's birthday and became instead a symbol of terrorism.
Ten years since I woke to images so horrifying, so emotionally overwhelming that I struggled to comprehend them.
Ten years since I waited by the phone for news of our cousins, who were in transit to the States (from New Zealand). Ten years since I went into work, wondering how I could possibly answer the questions I knew my students would have. Ten years since I, thousands of miles away, felt rage and grief and fear and helplessness and could only imagine what those directly affected were going through.
The fallout from the Christchurch earthquakes (and ongoing aftershocks) over the past year has been enormous, and my life and attitudes to all sorts of things have changed as a result. But it's far easier for me to "normalise" or accept the havoc wreaked by Mother Nature than the deliberate destruction wreaked by people on other people.
So - yes. I remember. And I grieve for what we all lost on 9-11-01.
When you hear 9-11, what does it bring to mind for you?
Yes - I remember too. My son was just a few weeks old, and I was glued to the television in horror and disbelief. The image of the towers falling are haunting and take me right back to watching it live. That and the images of people hanging out windows, desperate for rescue. So heartbreakingly sad.
ReplyDeleteYes, those images of people in the windows, trapped between fire and 50-storey drops - that haunts me even now.
ReplyDeleteI remember it vividly. I had been in NY the year before and seen the towers from the water. I could not believe that they no longer existed nor how many believe perished.
ReplyDeleteWaiting for friends to contact me so that I knew they were alright was a nightmare. Even today whenever I see those planes flying into the twin towers I get cold shivers down my spine.
Pat, I'm totally with you, on all counts. I lay in bed watching the TV footage, feeling like nothing would ever be the same. And it's not. And every time I see that footage I'm right back there again.
ReplyDeleteI shiver whenever I remember and I am hauntingly reminded of one of my Dad's comments on the state of mankind whenever something awful happened.
ReplyDelete"Another example of man's inhumanity to man."
A comment that sums it up 9/11 succinctly.
My most enduring impression? The Arab women on the streets joyously yodelling.
To most of us it is inconceivable that anyone could plot to take so many innocent lives.
Shirley, your dad had it exactly right. I just can't fathom the mindset that would rejoice in this kind of act.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember the Arab women. It gives me the creeps imagining it, though. Thanks for sharing.
Maggie
ReplyDeleteon reflection the images of the Arab women on the streets was only played a few times on the actual day...I've never seen it since...probably it was deemed to be too inflamatory
No wonder. It would've been excessively so! And the problem is - that attitude was probably held by a very small minority, yet 9-11 turned every Muslim person into a suspect. So many people were victims of 9-11, one way or other.
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