In Memoriam - 9/11

For the moment, our blog is taking a break from the usually-jovial rock n roll flavored observations, humor and news, to remember the blow suffered here, in the city I call home, thirteen years ago today.

Having just returned home on September 10th, late at night, from a Jamaican vacation, I was fast asleep when a phone call jarred me awake. My mother, telling me that the Twin Towers were on fire, and to get to the living room. It was shortly after 9:30am.

This was my view on most days. But on Sept. 11, 2001, I awoke to a nightmarish vision outside my window. The Twin Towers were engulfed in smoke, billowing forth in undulating waves.

I sat down in front of the window frame, transfixed by the impossibility of the sight before me. I turned on CNN, and never even bothered to look at the screen. What could they show me that I could not see for myself, a mile and a half away?

But the talking heads on the newsdesk played like a soundtrack while I watched in horror as a mere hour later, the first tower collapsed in on itself, consumed in a pillar of black, ashy smoke.

It was then that the emails started. My friends and colleagues from around the world, and those international singers and dancers with whom I toured for Carnival Cruise Lines and knew where I lived had begun emailing me en masse. Asking about my safety, and that of my family, but also, for eyewitness accounts. What could I see? Did I know more about the damage than the news was reporting? Could I offer any insight?

The rest of the day became a blurry haze of sirens, the stench of destruction and chaotic voices on the television stumbling for information through conjecture. I could not move from that spot for many hours, until well past midnight.

The rest of the story has passed from reportage to legend and into myth. A cemented part of our American legacy and history. There is now a memorial on the site of the destruction, where daily tourists file past with cameras in hand.

I couldn't say for certain, but I'd imagine that the residents of that lagoon harbor in Oahu who are of a certain age, never visit the Pearl Harbor memorial either. They have the memories locked away, that no exhibit could ever match.

#911 #rip #nyc