“On 9/11 I Lost New York” – But I’ll Always Remember
It’s time to admit to myself it will always be a part of me. And I don’t want to forget. I want to remember. An evergreen version of my long-ago 9/11 story lives here for posterity.
Why I’m Here: My 9/11 Story Told for the StoryCorps September 11th Initiative (Audio)
On May 21st, I was blessed with the unexpected opportunity to be interviewed by the nonprofit oral-history project, StoryCorps. I visited their mobile recording studio, temporarily parked in Pilsen…and told my 9/11 story for the national September 11th Initiative. From StoryCorps, here is my recorded remembrance of the day that changed my life and, ultimately, brought me to Chicago.
As It Should Be: Moving On From 9/11
I’m happy to say this is the first time in eight years I didn’t see 9/11 coming. I forgot almost completely about the anniversary of that infamous date until a few hours before this writing. It’s a sense of normalcy that I haven’t felt in eight years.
“On 9/11 I Lost New York” 2008 Edition
Today, with the world again awash in retrospect, I usually prefer to be blogging about about courtesy, or kittens, or one of any number of safer, happier, topics. Seven years on and I had originally thought not to mark the occasion again. At some point, we just have to emotionally let go inside, or we destroy ourselves. In the end, while I feel no need to make a pilgrimage to a dusty construction site in Lower Manhattan, I still feel a need for words.
“On 9/11 I Lost New York”
The headline a quote from my old New York friend, Sarah Massey, and one that speaks to my experience, as well. I rarely dote on that day. It’s been years since I stood on the Brooklyn Heights Esplanade at dusk, candle in hand, surrounded by thousands of my neighbors, mourning. I felt no need to watch the cable documentaries, nor for that matter Nicolas Cage crawling out from under a slab of concrete on the big screen. I was in Manhattan that morning–once was enough, thanks.