It’s been a long strange day.. 9/11 ten years later.. a day long in coming. It loomed large in everyone’s mind.. how would it feel.. what would happen ? would there be another attack ? Would there be a sense of closure ? The day passed relatively quietly .. there were many remembrance services..in towns across the country .. and on radio and tv. I tuned in a short bit to radio.. but didn’t find the sense of meaning I was searching for.. what was I searching for .. anyway ? Like many things.. the expectation of the day.. and the day itself were two different things.
I did attend a small remembrance service held by the fire and police force of our tiny town. it was quite and reserved.. many stories about shock and horror of that day.. many stories which Id never heard before.. of frustration that our fire and military folks felt when they quickly made ready to help.. and then were never called upon to help.
Many of the 180 or so of us gathered on the green today had attended a quiet candlelight service in the Round Church a few days after 9/11. I remember it was organized by our freind Rev. Barbara Putian and Father Benoit of the local catholic church. Barbara asked me to read a hebrew prayer of peace.. I think I read
עֹשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם בִּמְרוֹמָיו, הוּא יַעֲשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם עָלֵיֽנוּ וְעַל כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְאִמְרוּ : אָמֵן.
Oseh shalom bimromav, hu yaaseh shalom aleinu v’al kol Yisrael, v’imru: Amen.
May the One who causes peace to reign in the high heavens let peace descent on us and on all Israel, and let us say: Amen.
I remember the deep sadness at that point.. but I also remember the perfect moment as that world came together in solidarity for what had happened ot our country. That solidarity quickly vanished though.. was it us ? or was it just the time ? I personally feel that our hunger for retribution and revenge drove us into the complex tar-babies of Afghanistan and Iraq. I honor the work done by our soldiers there.. but i simply cannot see how our leaders felt that soemthing like the hatred behind the 9/11 attacks can be stopped by more hatred. But.. i’m also aware that ‘soemthing had to be done’.. .. and so it’s been forever..
One of the amazing things about 9/11 is how indelibly it’s etched in each of our minds.. .. each of us knows exactly where we were, what we were doing, who we were with and what we did next when we heard.. Like when JFK was shot.. .. or.. when the Challenger exploded.. or when we got the call about Sam..
I posed the question on facebook this morning.. ” Where were you ?” I posted it and the moment the plane hit the first tower.. I began with were I was.
8:46 AM Sept 11, 2001 I was giving a talk at the University of Vermont Math department when my pager/watch went off with the news… Where were you ?
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I was sitting at the Winooski (now traffic circle) corner, waiting to make a left turn. I had 95Triple-X on. They spoke about the first plane. I rolled my window down, and spoke to the guy in the car next to me. We both communicated to the guy in a third car, the other side of him. We all drove away, troubled, baffled……