Remembering September 11th, 2001
On September 11th, 2001 I was in Vietnam. I was living in Manhattan but on vacation. Because of the time difference we learned about the attack many, many hours later (we were asleep while it all happened).
When I got home on Sept 17th (on the 1st international flight back from Asia) I loved seeing the outpouring of love all over Long Island.
For some reason, I took a picture of a sign CVS (across from the Syosset Fire Department) put up for the community to honor September 11th.
Oddly… today I just found myself passing this CVS. Odd because I’m rarely in this area. I laughed that this random sign is such a part of my September 11th narrative.
I stopped for a moment at the (literal not proverbial) light thinking about that time 23 years ago.
As I started driving I noticed two steel beams in a park right passed the CVS. I quickly pulled over and found a little memorial park dedicated to Syosset’s finest and to the September 11th heroes who didn’t come home that day.
The Universe Gives You What You Need
I’m a firm believer that the universe gives you what you need.
Today is always a weird day for me where I don’t want to do anything and I want to reflect. This year with all the craziness of the world it’s even heavier.
I don’t know why this CVS sign resonated with me but in a world of film cameras you often only had 36 options to find meaning.
It may have been the last few frames in the last roll in my camera and I wanted to finish it and get them printed. I may have wanted to chronical the patriotism. I don’t know. But I digress.
I don’t normally make appointments on September 11th but today I did.
I’m not normally near this random CVS but today I was.
I was thinking how to think about today and I found this park. I like that.
Today is a personal day for everyone. At this point 2001 was so long ago there’s a whole generation of people legally allowed to drink who were not born on 9/11/01. But if you were there – physically or mentally – I’m sure you have your own story and all that matters today is that you stop for five seconds to be grateful that you’re here to tell it.
I hope one day we CAN forget the war on terror. Sadly today is not that day, but I hope it comes at some point in somebody’s lifetime.
For now as I sit here I think about the bravery of those who went up and did not come down and the holes in the lives of the families reading names this morning.
September 11th Related Hashtags
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