New York Skyline as I think of it

It took me a week to just write this as I felt too overwhelmed to write this last week.  I started writing and then had to call the family of a friend who passed 10 years ago in the New York tragedy.  I was thinking of scrapping this post, but just needed to write it down for my own sake.  It is my own therapy even if it doesn’t make sense.

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September 11, 2001 will always be a day that those of us currently over the age of 20 will remember.  We will remember where we were, we will remember those who lost their lives, those who knew people who lost their lives, and then those who subsequently lost their lives to fight for the freedom we have created in America.

Although I was affected and have thoughts about each of those classmates, neighbors and relatives who are now gone, I worry more about the future.  The one where my child will never really know what that skyline looked like in real life before 9/11.  The one where my child won’t feel that ultimate level of safety from those who do not like the way we live and could care less about who your are. The one where our society was starting not to feel so ill-willed and more tolerant towards people of other beliefs.

A picture taken 20 May 1986 in New York

My son’s birthday is 9/11 and I hope it just becomes a normal day.  He still calls it the Fireman Birthday although this year we did sit him down to watch documentaries of that fateful day.  One thing that really bothered me is the legacy we are leaving our children. I posted these photos here because I don’t want the twin towers to be remembered in smoke or crumbling in a video, or seeing a plane run into them.  As this is his birthday, he needs to know the importance of the date and to be proud to call it his birthday.  I did show him some fun stuff though too.  There was the video I took of when I lived in New Jersey and commuted through the World Trade Center every day.  It was a crazy mad rush every morning and it was such a weird feeling to see the WTC as it looked back in the early 90s.  There were photos from when I lived above the Holland Tunnel in Newport City in Jersey City on the 32 floor.  The WTC was right there and dominated the skyline.  Whenever I go back I still feel like I see those twin towers there.

New York is regaining its stride.  It is puffing out its chest.  It will be stornger than ever, but that scar will always exist.  It will be a reminder of what we lost so that we could move ahead.  For me it is just a reminder to do better.  Do more.  Don’t forget what is important in life and to enjoy it.  It could be gone tomorrow.  For me, 9/11 will serve as a reminder to Never Forget what is important, not just to Never Forget what happened on that day 10 years ago.