One Third

9/11 Six Years On, Part Two On September 11th, 2001, I didn’t yet have a cell phone but remember many of those around me trying earnestly to call friends and family both in the city and beyond. Someone must have gotten through, if only for a bit, and heard from his mother that a plane went down somewhere in Pennsylvania. I remember he said “somewhere in Pennsylvania” as though it was some distant, insignificant land. I guess it was and is to many but to me, that’s where my family lives after all. “What?” I barked. “What’s happening in Pennsylvania?” He knew little more than nothing. I was more worried. Watching the towers—smoking and smoldering—collapse was unbelievable. The scene resembled a video of an old building or theater or warehouse being imploded to make way for gentrification. It didn’t seem real; it was especially unreal as I kept reminding myself “There are people in those buildings!” Those buildings are collapsing on the people inside. It was unbelievable. After the tow...

9/11 Six Years On (post written September 11, 2007) Six years. Six years. I can’t believe it’s been six years since the attacks. Wow. Seems so long ago and yet the memories remain stark and immediate. Yesterday, September 11, 2007, wasn’t a sparkling early fall day as it was that day six years ago. It was overcast and for that, I was relieved. Gray and humid. Sticky and gloomy. At the end of the day, however, the sun did indeed break through the clouds and there was a spectacular sky of deep oranges, glowing pinks, and ruby reds. Perhaps that was the most striking part of the day for me. Otherwise, 9/11's almost becoming just another day. Has it? If this section is contradictory, I apologize but think such back and forth is due to the ambivalence I feel about the day now. It’s an uncomfortable commingling of a “let’s move on” attitude with a “lest we forget” fear-inspired reverence. I read somewhere that 9/11 is our generation’s Pearl Harbor. The parallels are easy to draw: bot...

A New Book? Well, One Third , my first and, as of yet, only book is fine. I'm happy I wrote it and feel mildly satisfied on that front though it a) hasn't been published and b) no one has really read it (but for you dear ones who soldier through snippets of it here on my blog; and for that, many thanks!) to say nothing of it helping me forge ahead in my dream to earn at least a partial living with my words. That all said, I want to start a new book and I need your help. I want to compile stories/recollections of how you met that person in your life. Could be your lover, wife, husband, partner or your best friend, your buddy, your companion. I will call the edited collection of these accounts How We Met . I find the story of how my husband and I met amusing; one of those, how random accounts! When I think of it all, I am amazed by all of the "what ifs" that aligned, the dominoes of chance that fell right where they needed to for it all to work out as it did. I enjoy o...