A Tenth Anniversary Is All About The Memories

(An Essay Competition: On the 10th Anniversary of 9/11): My Essay: (That's me - the photo on the right - getting my first bike 1959)

I have been thinking about this date as I remember where I was, “Who doesn’t,” the voice in my head always comments when I think this.

The strongest memory is being in the room of our last home together as a family. I was married then and deciding the fate of my life, my children’s lives and my husband’s future as well as planning my own. I have friends who still live there; they lived this horrible moment when life forced the kindness in their hearts to be hero’s to strangers, and I was in touch with them so spiritually that day, they are who my family is still today.

I remember being made aware I live in a place of the world where advantage is a commonplace item and privilege is often forgotten during the most normal day-to-day experiences we all have. Life for some of us is less of a struggle than other places. However the event, which occurred on 9-11-01, brought to mind all of these things, these words, and these changes in the course of my day to day as I stood there in our bedroom, watched over and over the replay and realized if I get one chance at this living and this breathing experience, I needed to make a change and change I did.

Ten years later I still remain the person I was, a not looking back person with regrets, I am still a forward believer in change will bring better to all; however change does bring fallout and my heart still swells under the realization of how small our loss was compared to the one faced by other parts of the world. This event remains big to the children and families who have a one on one path with this event. I send my love and prayers of healing to them, their families and to all effected directly and indirectly, it was a great loss and still a healing wound.

My children are now young adults, they are being readied to do what I did so many years ago when I was their ages, and so, I do find myself reflecting in this way, compare and contrast of then and now. I imagine the families who are bound together by this event and then I remember visiting the World Trade Center when I lived there (1977-88); the memory of the view, not once but twice, is breathtaking among other memories I have of living in NYC when I did. I also remember visiting the World Trade Center in 2007 when I went there with my daughter for a musical contest she won in NJ, our weekend visit with a long-term gal pal, her family and these more present day memories. The time between my visits from LA to NY had been long, much had happened since I had left (1987-88) and this weekend, when my daughter and I were there we walked from 72nd and Broadway to Greenwich Village and taxied or subwayed back, trivial details are escaping me now. But my daughter and I visited the World Trade Center and said our prayers to those buried here. It is now a somber place, a place of prayer and a place of honor. You can feel the bravery; it gave me chills just to think about all of this when we were there. To all and everyone, thank you for the memories, while some are now lost and all I have are memories of their lives, you are still in my heart and your bravery in living this lifetime, sharing some of it with me, I return to you the same with love.