A Day We All Remember

Every decade seems to produce a moment that everyone can recall where they were when the world changed in a significant way for them. Pearl Harbor, JFK's assassination, landing on the moon. There are moments that universally bring us together, particularly as a nation. Yesterday reminded me of a day like that. It is a day that many will be commemorating throughout this week. For me, that Tuesday morning was typical. I was running out of the house late for work and worried about making my N/R to the 6 subway connection. Yes, at 8:30am on Sept. 11, 2001 missing the 6 train was my greatest worry in the world. As many know it was a bright, crisp sunny morning. The temperature was in the low 80s. The kind of day that makes you mad you have to go to work. Mornings like that sometimes still cause me to think about September 11th and I have rarely spoken or written about that day. Even now, seven years later it is still surreal.

I was running late for work and looked up at Times Square to check the time on my way to the subway, only to see a big black cloud of smoke emerging from the one of the Twin Towers. I went home certain it was a deliberate act and afraid we were under attack. As I called my office, I watched the second plane hit the second tower. My greatest fears confirmed. The rest of that day and the following weeks unfolded for me like for so many people. I stood on 9th Avenue and watched as the towers collapsed amid screams of those around me. I frantically called friends and family who I knew could be downtown or to tell them I was OK. I remember scavenging for food for the handful of friends who were holding up in my small studio apartment because they could not get home across the river to New Jersey. I remember talking to my young niece and nephew 3000 miles away and explaining that I wasn't in the towers that fell down and I was going to be safe. I remember not being able to open my window for over a week because of the smell, even though I lived in midtown. I remember the ghost town that Times Square looked like when not a living soul could be seen on the streets. I remember finally feeling safe when they said all air traffic was grounded or diverted out of our air space (the unsung heroes of that day - our country's air traffic controllers). I remember the first time seeing downtown Manhattan without the twin towers being a part of the landscape. I was on a train home to Long Island for my cousin's wedding just four days after the attacks, everyone on the train was silent whether in shock, fear or sadness I will never know. For me, it was a little bit of all three.

Now, most of what I remember is how people came together in a city that is always tagged as heartless. How people simply wanted to help in any way possible and those who didn't know how to help simply lined the West Side Highway with signs and flags and merely cheered on the shifts of firemen, rescue workers and police officers who came in and out of the disaster area. I also remember many of us in the neighborhoods bringing food and condolences to what was left of our ravaged firehouses - for me the Broadway fireman who lost 2/3 of their men. The fear and the particulars are distant now, 7 years later but for me it is those bright sunny brisk moments that give me pause. It's something about the complete juxtaposition of the weather and how what ensued that day were so out of sync. While I no longer live in New York, I will always be a New Yorker. I have rarely been prouder to be a part of a community than I was in the weeks that followed. I was blessed and lost no one close to me although I did know people who died. I decided to write about that day because that feeling of coming together is one I think we as a country long for now. We need more than ever to come together as a people with common pride. I think it is why I am so engaged in this election process and so adamant in my hope that people vote. You see, while I have my opinions and preferences, I just think it is so important that we as a whole get informed and participate. At the end of the day Republican, Democrat, Independent - we are Americans and it is our country to guide through the representatives we chose. If we don't participate we disservice only ourselves. I hope to make November 4, 2008 a day I remember, to sit along side Sept 11th as a day that brought out the best in our humanity and the passion we have as a people.