Five years
I've read lots of blogs today in rememberance of 9/11 and the terrible events of that day. I don't think anyone will forget it, as long as they live. I don't really have a 'story' from that day - it was like any other day, I guess. Like it was for everybody. I wasn't personally affected by it. Emotionally, it shook everyone.
My dh's brother's wife (my SIL) is originally from Statten Island, NY. That is where she met my BIL. He was over there on holiday, and she moved over here with him. She is the first person I thought of when I heard the news. Luckily, none of her family were killed or injured, although her sister was in Manhattan at the time, and got hit with the debris (rubble) on the way to pick up her son. We also found out, a couple of years later, that a man my husband used to work for when he was 9 or 10 (he cleaned his shoes!) had a son that was killed in one of the towers of the World Trade Center. He lived on the street we now live on. That is the closest it came, for us.
Whenever I think of 9/11, and the people of New York, and of America, I remember how I felt on 7th July last year, when our transport system here in London was targeted similarly, although thankfully on a smaller scale. It's hard for those who haven't been to New York, who weren't familiar with the WTC and who don't know anybody there to really get the full SHOCK factor of the day. I remember in the days after I used to look up at the tall skyscrapers of the London skyline and imagine one of them exploding, or collapsing. Really hard to do. I've seen the images so many times, but I wasn't there, and I will never have that full impact of the day, perhaps luckily. I read somewhere that London was supposed to be targeted the same day (not from a very reliable source, I might add). Regardless of it's reliability, it did give me food for thought. The plan was reportedly to target Westminster - Parliament, Big Ben, all those big monuments on the banks of the Thames. The first thing that came to mind, perhaps selfishly in light of the great loss of life that would inevitably occur, is how much I would MISS those buildings should anything happen to them. And I remembered how I felt, on 7/7, seeing these places that I have been to, and that I recognize - and in a way, the PEOPLE that I recognized. I didn't know anybody that was killed, but I recognized them none the less. The businessmen and women in suits, and the students commuting to university, and the tourists ready for a day of summer sightseeing, and just ordinary people on their way to work. My husband traveled by tube most days in the 4 years before 2005. He travelled the whole length of the Northern line. I have used the tubes many times. My girls use the tubes. I have taken Jamie and Anna on once, when we went to Harrods. I was scared for the people I know, living in close proximity to this evil. When I think of all that, I feel sad for those all around the world that felt that 50 times over on that day, and everyday since.
That's it for today. What else is there to say.
I've read lots of blogs today in rememberance of 9/11 and the terrible events of that day. I don't think anyone will forget it, as long as they live. I don't really have a 'story' from that day - it was like any other day, I guess. Like it was for everybody. I wasn't personally affected by it. Emotionally, it shook everyone.
My dh's brother's wife (my SIL) is originally from Statten Island, NY. That is where she met my BIL. He was over there on holiday, and she moved over here with him. She is the first person I thought of when I heard the news. Luckily, none of her family were killed or injured, although her sister was in Manhattan at the time, and got hit with the debris (rubble) on the way to pick up her son. We also found out, a couple of years later, that a man my husband used to work for when he was 9 or 10 (he cleaned his shoes!) had a son that was killed in one of the towers of the World Trade Center. He lived on the street we now live on. That is the closest it came, for us.
Whenever I think of 9/11, and the people of New York, and of America, I remember how I felt on 7th July last year, when our transport system here in London was targeted similarly, although thankfully on a smaller scale. It's hard for those who haven't been to New York, who weren't familiar with the WTC and who don't know anybody there to really get the full SHOCK factor of the day. I remember in the days after I used to look up at the tall skyscrapers of the London skyline and imagine one of them exploding, or collapsing. Really hard to do. I've seen the images so many times, but I wasn't there, and I will never have that full impact of the day, perhaps luckily. I read somewhere that London was supposed to be targeted the same day (not from a very reliable source, I might add). Regardless of it's reliability, it did give me food for thought. The plan was reportedly to target Westminster - Parliament, Big Ben, all those big monuments on the banks of the Thames. The first thing that came to mind, perhaps selfishly in light of the great loss of life that would inevitably occur, is how much I would MISS those buildings should anything happen to them. And I remembered how I felt, on 7/7, seeing these places that I have been to, and that I recognize - and in a way, the PEOPLE that I recognized. I didn't know anybody that was killed, but I recognized them none the less. The businessmen and women in suits, and the students commuting to university, and the tourists ready for a day of summer sightseeing, and just ordinary people on their way to work. My husband traveled by tube most days in the 4 years before 2005. He travelled the whole length of the Northern line. I have used the tubes many times. My girls use the tubes. I have taken Jamie and Anna on once, when we went to Harrods. I was scared for the people I know, living in close proximity to this evil. When I think of all that, I feel sad for those all around the world that felt that 50 times over on that day, and everyday since.
That's it for today. What else is there to say.
posted by Donna D. at 9:01 pm
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