The Years Turn to Decades

 

I am awestruck that the years have turned into decades and the day that split my life is now twenty-two years past. I didn't imagine that (my) life would go on after time stood still on that beautiful September morning. But time has gone on and while it doesn't heal all things or even some things, the passage of time makes things easier to bear. 

I've written about my September 11 experience every year since I began this blog in 2009, and this year is no exception. For new members of the Buttercupland community, a quick (re)telling of my day:

I had worked in Lower Manhattan beginning in 1999, about four blocks south of the Trade Center I and had a very set routine. I took the local train all the way downtown and then walked three blocks to my office on Broadway. But not on 9/11/01. At Fourteenth Street the Local train went out of service -- one of its stops went through the World Trade Center -- and I changed to an express line. I got off at the Wall Street stop and turned west to where the Twin Towers were standing. But instead of the clear view of the buildings that I should have had I saw a million pieces of paper flying in the sky from where the windows had been blown out. In less than two hours both buildings would collapse and I would watch the sky go completely dark as the second tower fell. Ultimately our building was evacuated and I walked miles north through ash and smoke, most of the way home.

This is the link to my 2022 blog post, "Remember". It contains a link to notes I sent to family and friends on the night of September 11, 2001.

I will never know exactly why I became part of history on that day. But that was my destiny and it's now my destiny to continue to tell my story until I am no longer part of this world. It's a privilege and a burden and one that I am grateful to bear. 

As ever, thanks for being part of the Buttercupland community and thanks for your friendship and support through the decades.