In Remembrance…
At the very end of July 2001, my family and I (pre-twins of course) all flew up to New Hampshire and then to Maine for a family reunion. We had a long wait on the tarmac at the airport in Newark and realized that we might get to fly past New York. In anticipation, we got out my brand new digital camera (you remember the old ones that cost $500 for a 1 megapixel unit).
As we took off in the little puddle jumper that would take us up the coast, we got an aerial tour of New York City. Although we certainly weren’t expecting it, we got to see many of the landmarks the city is famous for. We were treated to views of the Statue of Liberty, Central Park and even Yankee Stadium (which at the time was the highlight for me). But as we would come to realize just 2 short months later, our real highlight was getting to pass the World Trade Center and its 2 magnificent towers. The picture to the left was taken simply and casually as a tourist would take a picture of something they recognize. It has now become as cherished as any photo from that entire wonderful trip.
I post it in remembrance of this day 6 years ago when this country was forever changed.
20 comments:
First! (not to be too disrespectful, but on a day like this, one must take joywhere one can find it, no?)
Wow, that's a true piece of history you have there.
I remember getting a call from my sis EARLY in the morning (we were in CA at the time.) MuNKi answered, we chalked it up (in our groggy haze) to my sister being paranoid, and went back to sleep. Then my FIL called when the second one hit.
It was so weird at the park that day and the next with no planes flying over at all. (Dublin/San Ramon so we usually had plenty of SF traffic going over) My friend and I were just in kind of a fog of shock while the kids played all day, pretty much oblivious.
Candace: We can always celebrate the first comment! It was very weird being next to Ontario International Airport here in So Cal and not seeing a single plane that following week.
Imagine my confusion when reading "next to Ontario International Airport here in So Cal." ^_^ Somehow I never pictured there being a CA city named Ontario.
I'm glad my celebration isn't out of line. :)
Please do not stop commenting freely on my blog!
PS, are you totally sucked into Pandora yet? ^_^
Candace: Yep, there is an Ontario here. It confuses me reading about Ontario on other's blogs in the same way. Why did I go to Pandora and it was playing country?? Really good country?? It's almost scary!
That's a beautiful photo and definitely something to cherish. I visited NY after the fact and have pictures of a construction site which doubled as a memorial site. Still significant but I wish it didn't have to be that way.
its was a sweet homage for everyone who's life was forever changed due to 9-11...
That is a photo to cherish, Michael.
Ralph and I were both home watching Imus and like many people we thought it was an accident, a small plane going off course.
We saw the second plane go in, live, and I'll never forget the chill I felt. We live about 85 miles from there.
Ralph's sister lost a brother-in-law in the World Trade Center. We didn't know him personally but we had met his wife and their two small children.
Can't believe six years have gone by.
Glad you had the chance to see the Big Apple, from the sky at least.
I don't know how many of your readers live on the east coast, but unfortunately, I experiences much of this day first hand. I grew up across the bay and saw the towers every day. Then when we moved further south, we could still see the towers from the other side of the bay. I watched them burn. Then I watched them fall.
You have a great momento with that photo. Most of my childhood photos has the towers as a backdrop.
I don't feel I own the tragedy anymore than anyone else, but there is something physical, almost palpable, in the people who live in this part of the country. Almost eveyrone knows someone who died. There were cars down the street from me that were never picked up from the train station.
My father was working in the city that day. The phones didn't work. We didn't hear from him until 10 pm. One of the worst things was working in a day care center at the time and trying to explain and NOT explain too much to the kids why all the teachers were crying at the same time.
It was a bad day.
Thanks for taking the time to remember it.
I remember driving on the NJ Turnpike, and even in the smog, you could always at least see the outline of the WTC twin towers. And you could get a pretty good view of the WTC landing or taking off to the north at Newark Int'l. Once on approach to JFK I saw the Statue of Liberty clearly at 2500 ft. The coolest view from a plane was at night, where the lights from the West St/FDR Drive showcased the shape of Manhattan and the Belt Parkway profiled Brooklyn perfectly. Your picture is great!
That's really a lovely remembrance. See what you come up with when you're not feeling lazy??!?? ;)
Hi Michael C! I can't believe it's been 6 years already. And yes, it really did change the atmosphere in our country forever.
That's a great photo.
And wow, $500 for a 1 megapixel. I had a 2.0 and that sucks, I'm up to a 2.1 ya, I know it still sucks.
I'll never forget that day and what it means to so many people in this world. I never got to visit the towers so when we go to NY tomorrow, one of our stops is Ground Zero.
It is a special photo...and memory...Thanks.
Thank you Michael. ;-)
Peace
Well said MC, well said.
It was interesting to read your blog fan comments today. Like Andreanna and Ralph, I am from the East Coast and was affected directly from the WTC tragedy. In addition to feeling heartbroken and afraid for my own reasons, my neighbor, coworker, and friend lost her husband. He died instantly as he was on a floor that was directly hit.
I don't blog on the 11th. I feel weird doing it because I am from New York and feel like I shouldn't be contributing to my petty blog that is all about pipe dreams and trivial matters.
However I do try to find reasons to smile on the 11th. Hence my visit here after a long and miserable day. Although I didn't smile when I came here, I did find comfort from your post and those who left comments.
Thanks for sharing your photograph. The angle looks like it is from the south end of Manhattan which is one of my favorite ways to see the skyline.
Michael, that is the BEST picture. Thank you for this post, and the photo.
I still miss the Towers in my NJ skyline view of NYC every single day.
I know what you mean. I have a picture of myself posing in front of the twin towers while on the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. It was taken on my high school senior trip in 2000.
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