Remembering September 11th

Today's a day of rememberance in the world, and like most people, I've been thinking about how that weekend unfolded for me, where I was when I heard and how strange the world seemed for the following weeks. It was a scary time but also a time full of hope. Having been connected to others worldwide, thanks to the internet, I read and felt the outpouring of shock, grief and well wishes from many, many nationalities when I got home that Tuesday. So many countries (over 90, I think) lost their citizens September 11, 2001 on the four hijacked planes and in the World Trace Center, and the world was suddenly a much smaller place. A bit scarier. Much smaller. But hopeful in a way -- there was an opportunity for the international community to work together. Online friends and strangers sent their thoughts, prayers and hugs out into the universe, and everyone made an effort to lend a hand to a stranger, take the time to stop & listen to a neighbor.

And then there were the emergency workers, responding to the chaos, who lost their lives. People helping people, working tirelessly. They are remembered today, too.

I think most if not all of us were glued to our tv sets and our radios and our internet news sources. It was all pretty inconceivable at the time. That morning I received a call at work from my sis telling me a plane had flown into the WTC, and I immediately thought of a little biplane or a sight seeing plane. At first I thought it was an accident, maybe someone learning to fly had made a tragic miscalculation. Never did I think someone had crashed, on purpose, a passenger plane into a building where people worked. But the calls kept coming from my sis and my mom. More planes. Updates from patients who walked in. Updates from the radio station no longer playing classical music. The Towers had collapsed. We were all in a fog. I think we closed early and went home, and then once home, I watched the news reports and looked online at what the world was saying. And then there were the frantic bulletin board posts at various forums I visited. Has anyone heard from so&so? Phone calls to people in NY to make sure people were okay.

Saturday 8th I'd traveled to NY for a Farscape convention. When I checked in, I called home and immediately got the sense that something was wrong. They didn't tell me until I returned home, but my great aunt had died. We'd been told two days previously she had been hospitalized so I wasn't suprised, but now I connect her death with the days to follow. On Sunday 9th I had a fantastic time at the con and met lots of people, including a Frenchman who wasn't a part of the con - lol; many of the congoers were staying in NY after the convention was over. And I recall a Michael Jackson concert or gathering of some sort across the street at Madison Square Garden. No, I didn't go, but that's why the Frenchman was in NY. ;) On Monday 10th I hung out in NYC until the afternoon. I dutifully tried to get pics for Laura at the One Life to Live studios during that time before catching my train at Penn Station. I arrived home late, and first thing Tuesday morning, I went online to post a little "thank you" to the people I'd met at the con. When I returned home later that night, the boards were full of the confusion of 9/11, starting a few posts after mine. So now Scapers are forever tied to that memory as well.

Anyway..
911 Memorial Website
Sep. 11 Memorial & Museum