September 11

I ruminated over whether I should post about September 11. Do I really have anything new to add? Some bloggers have chosen to commemorate this day; others have not.

The easiest part was to decide on an image. Black. It is a day of mourning, is it not? There is a Jewish tradition to leave one part of one’s home unbuilt, to commemorate past tragedies, especially the destruction of the Temple and the scattering of the Jewish people. In that vein I leave you a big square where I might normally place a joyful image.

9/11. I was at the dentist that day, in East Brunswick. Some 9/11 widows live there and became famous a while back. I’m not going to link to that story. Back to the dentist…my dentist plays the radio in his office. When I heard the first plane crash, I thought, a fluke. When I heard the second one, I got scared. Deliberate? Could it possibly be terrorism had struck New York? This was only a month after the Sbarro pizza bombing in Jerusalem, where 15 people where killed, including young children. Anyway…fast forward a few hours, I’m back in Highland Park and hanging out with a friend. She nicely offers to turn off the tv. That was the last time I watched tv news. The previous time was in the first Gulf War, when Sadaam Hussein was pointing his nasty scuds at Israel, including my little cousins (who are now grown up with kids of their own) huddled in a sealed room with gas masks. Aside: do you understand why I didn’t want to write this post? All these yucky memories.

OK, so my friend and I wander the day together, listening to U.S. fighter jets flying above our heads in the direction of New York City. My friend in Ma’alot, Israel emails me to make sure we are OK. We leave our kids at school; it turns out, the kids are comforting the teachers, who are the scared ones. We later hear stories about the lucky in our area who did not go to work because of taking care of a child’s cast or some other reason. We also learn of the many who did go to work and did not come home.

Enough of the bad news. I can’t concentrate anymore on this. I have a great Sky Watch post coming soon… enjoy it!

Categories: Central New Jersey, Highland Park, trying to connect

Ilana-Davita says

I like the black square. My own choice for bad news or sad events is now: no ilustration.

Louise says

Black is appropriate. But I'm glad you mentioned the Israeli terrorism. As horrible as this was, we in the U.S. know nothing about terrorism, what it's like to have it all around us every day. We are lucky and blessed. I definitely see why it was hard for you to write this, but you have more to add than some of us do.

Baila says

I was at work. Two things stand out. At first we thought it was a terrible accident, but we watched the second plane crash happen live. A colleague of mine, a wonderful Afghan woman, said--that's Osama Bin Ladin. None of us had ever that name before.

And I will never forget another colleague speaking to her husband on the phone as he was walking down the stairs. He didn't make it out.

A life-changing day.

Janet says

Well done to just have a black image.

Debbie says

Excellent image, the black square for mourning. It truly is a day of mourning for those of us who watched live and in color the events of that morning seven years ago. Thank you for sharing your experience.

2sweetnsaxy says

I think the black picture is fitting. We may not like to talk about these things but sometimes it is best we don't hold it in. I'm on the west coast. I was sleep when my friend woke me up with a call. She was frantic and I thought she had misunderstood something on the news and was in one of her usual high-strung modes. And then I turned on the t.v. I couldn't believe this was happening.

I did a post today too but mine was more political based, upset that the Republicans used this tragedy to instill fear as a reason to vote for them. This is not a day that will be forgotten.

Leora says

Debbie, thanks for visiting. You wrote a great post on 9-11. I hope others will visit you.

2sweetnsaxy, I read your post. Like the Republicans, I do believe there is evil in this world, and it is not George W. Bush (he's quite flawed, but not evil). I also have stopped believing in big government to solve all our problems. My taxes are high enough, thank you. But I try my hardest not to blog much about politics, as I think it separates people too much. We all have different views of reality.