Eight years ago the sky was blue. The sun was bright. A touch of fall was in the air. All day long I looked up, trying to figure out...something, I'm not sure what. How the miraculous modes of transport that took us to visit grandparents had been turned into weapons. How my friends in the city were. How it had happened. At a playground I walked straight into some monkey bars, accidentally slamming my head . That night I kept looking up, too, at the silent skies. Because we're near the flight path from Kennedy to Europe, I often mistook those overnight flights for stars.My toddler son, though, knew, and liked to watch them as much as the fireflies. Air-pane! Air-pane! Not that night.
Eventually I started looking at what was right in front of me again. My tiny boy began going to preschool a few hours a week. We read books. We played. We went apple picking, and he said his first long sentence on the way home.
And when we went to visit his grandparents at Christmas, my heart soared when the flight took off.
I remember.
Photograph: 9/11 Memorial, Sherwood Island State Park, Connecticut. Taken by ST, September 2008. All rights reserved.
Boy, the memories are still right there, aren't they?
Posted by: tanita | September 11, 2009 at 03:26 PM
Absolutely, Tanita. I heard some of the names being read on the radio today live from a Ground Zero memorial, and I cried.
Posted by: Susan (Chicken Spaghetti) | September 11, 2009 at 04:45 PM
Lovely post. Thanks for sharing your memories.
Posted by: Tricia | September 11, 2009 at 05:04 PM
Yes, lovely.
Posted by: Steph | September 11, 2009 at 05:40 PM
Thank you, Tricia and Steph. Today we are all remembering.
When I lived in New York, I always used the WTC towers to orient myself when I left the subway.
Here in the burbs, it's gray and rainy, a real contrast to 8 years ago.
Posted by: Susan (Chicken Spaghetti) | September 11, 2009 at 07:01 PM
Beautiful post, Susan.
Posted by: Janet | September 11, 2009 at 09:53 PM
Thank you, Janet.
Posted by: Susan (Chicken Spaghetti) | September 13, 2009 at 03:09 PM
This is poetry. Thank you.
Posted by: Terresa Wellborn | September 19, 2009 at 10:17 PM
Terresa, thank YOU for stopping by and for your nice words about the post.
Posted by: Susan (Chicken Spaghetti) | September 20, 2009 at 12:47 PM
9/11 the date is a memorable date for all over the world citizens . This day USA trembled with terror and the terrorists saw there power how they can destroy the world within few seconds .Thank you for such a wonderful blog . I never forget this day because i am a USA citizen .
Posted by: Cherry Emery | September 22, 2009 at 08:00 AM