September 11th
September 11th.
I miss the days when today's date meant nothing more than it was brother's birthday.
I miss being able to look at the calender 1/12 of the year and not think about the pure horror and disbelief that I felt as I watched United Airlines Flight 175 slam into the South Tower of the World Trade Center live on CNN; the utter dismay when it collapsed less than an hour later and - above all else - the overwhelming sense of helplessness when I saw the North Tower still standing, but knew it would collapse soon.
I miss what it was like to walk through the World Trade Center itself.
I miss being able to sit back on boring days at work and just ponder what it would be like to go back to Windows on the World.
I miss being able to visit buildings like Renaissance Center in Detroit, the Sears Tower in Chicago or the CN Tower in Toronto without thinking twice about it. I know, of course, that those buildings are as safe as anyone could reasonably make them, but there's just enough about them to remind me of the World Trade Center.
I miss being able to flip through pages of an old sci-fi story I once wrote, without thinking about how those characters could have saved most of the people in the World Trade Center that day. (They had a spaceship that could hover in mid-air and hold its position, even while pumping a few hundred gallons of water onto a flaming building. Yes, I am a sci-fi nerd.)
I miss being able to respect the leaders of my government. I knew that even if I disagreed with President Reagan or the first President Bush, they wouldn't have used the tragedy of that day as an excuse to invade and occupy a country like Iraq nor to limit the freedoms and privacies of Americans.
I miss the life that I had 6 years and 1 day ago. I fear that I may never get it back. That fear, of course, is only amplified when I browsed through my friend Paula Turner's portfolio and see the photograph that she took to the left, which shows where the World Trade Center once stood.
I miss the days when September 11th was simply my brother's birthday.
I miss the days when today's date meant nothing more than it was brother's birthday.
I miss being able to look at the calender 1/12 of the year and not think about the pure horror and disbelief that I felt as I watched United Airlines Flight 175 slam into the South Tower of the World Trade Center live on CNN; the utter dismay when it collapsed less than an hour later and - above all else - the overwhelming sense of helplessness when I saw the North Tower still standing, but knew it would collapse soon.I miss what it was like to walk through the World Trade Center itself.
I miss being able to sit back on boring days at work and just ponder what it would be like to go back to Windows on the World.
I miss being able to visit buildings like Renaissance Center in Detroit, the Sears Tower in Chicago or the CN Tower in Toronto without thinking twice about it. I know, of course, that those buildings are as safe as anyone could reasonably make them, but there's just enough about them to remind me of the World Trade Center.
I miss being able to flip through pages of an old sci-fi story I once wrote, without thinking about how those characters could have saved most of the people in the World Trade Center that day. (They had a spaceship that could hover in mid-air and hold its position, even while pumping a few hundred gallons of water onto a flaming building. Yes, I am a sci-fi nerd.)
I miss being able to respect the leaders of my government. I knew that even if I disagreed with President Reagan or the first President Bush, they wouldn't have used the tragedy of that day as an excuse to invade and occupy a country like Iraq nor to limit the freedoms and privacies of Americans.I miss the life that I had 6 years and 1 day ago. I fear that I may never get it back. That fear, of course, is only amplified when I browsed through my friend Paula Turner's portfolio and see the photograph that she took to the left, which shows where the World Trade Center once stood.
I miss the days when September 11th was simply my brother's birthday.
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