Today our nation mourns. As someone living on the West Coast, I'm never sure how to deal with my feelings about 9/11. Like everyone, I'm sure, I remember where I was when I heard the news. I was starting grad school in Baltimore and it was the first day of classes. I didn't know a soul in the city and they canceled school for a week. I went home to grieve alone.
I did not personally know anyone who died on 9/11 and yet it haunts me. It was the day the rules as we knew them changed, the day that nothing would ever be the same again.
The following year, I moved to New York City. 9/11 is different there. I remember walking to the subway on the first anniversary of that horrible day and seeing a man clutching a picture of a woman, openly weeping on the streets of Brooklyn.
Today I wish I still lived on the East Coast so I could take some time off, stand in the whipping wind and rain, and stare into that deep hole in the middle of the island, the one that is still there so many years later. I wish I could re-visit the Pentagon memorial, which my sister took me to when I visited her, and hear the president speak.
But there is one memorial that's currently on its way to me. Today, family and friends of the passengers on United Flight 93 are finishing their journey for them--only this time, they're doing it on Harleys. The people onboard Flight 93 overcame their hijackers and crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. This 3,000-mile motorcycle trek is due to roll into San Francisco at 11am. Maybe I'll be able to catch their ride through Lincoln Park this afternoon and finally find a way to process my feelings.
How do you commemorate 9/11? If you don't live near the sites, is there something you do at home to remember?
Comments
Sep 13, 2009
I don't think anyone old enough will ever forget 9/11 or 7/7 in London. I didn't do anything to commerate the dates, but, I am glad that people have continue to travel without fear.
Sep 14, 2009
Everything about that day was frightening. I was 23 at the time. I remember going to lunch and not hearing any planes flying overheard because of the ban on all flights - that was really creepy. And yes the people jumping from the buildings was horrifying. It was just unreal.
I remember calling my mom at work to let her know what was happening, and then the 2nd plane hit the 2nd tower - it went from being a horrible accident to a mass homicide right there. That was absolutely unbelievable!!
Nov 19, 2009
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