It's been hard for me to talk about 9/11 for quite some time. I guess what I have against speaking about it is, what I saw as, the commercialism and tourist aspect of visiting “Ground Zero” and how it became a sort of gruesome car accident for spectators to take pictures of.
I couldn't understand why people would want to take time from their vacation to visit what was then a construction site, where countless people lost their lives. I know now it was a way for people that were not here at the time to pay their respects but, as a New Yorker, maybe I felt protective of something that had effected us all so deeply.
Later, when I was traveling in Europe, the two main questions I was asked were “Where were you when 9/11 happened?” and “Do you ever see the girls from Sex and the City?”. So, in my eyes, 9/11 had become a sort of pop culture phenomenon and it made me uncomfortable to answer their questions.
I was here when the attacks happened. I was living in the East Village, what seems like 100 years ago. I won't go into the details of my own personal experience but what I will say is that it was awful. It was a horrible experience of something tragic that happened in a seemingly invincible city. The images I saw at the time, the fliers that inundated the subway stations of pleads for any sign of a loved one and the desperation New Yorkers felt at their inability to help fix what had happened were too much to handle.
Thousands of people died in a senseless act of misguided violence that day. People were left without spouses, parents, siblings and friends. Everyone was lost, hopeless, helpless and confused. Luckily, I did not, nor did my circle of friends and family lose anyone close to them. But we all felt a tremendous loss from those events.
What we can take away from it though, is the comradery that we all felt in coming together afterward, and the outpouring of love it created in trying to right a wrong.We were one for all and all for one, in a city where we are often be too busy to stop and appreciate the little things.
I hope that today we can all take some time to remember those whose lives were taken and the firefighters, volunteers and countless people who gave it their all to try and help. You are and will always be remembered.
