This will be my last post until Thursday. Whatever you choose to do tomorrow, please remember. That’s all I ask.
1. Where were you and what was happening in your life the moment when you first became aware of what was happening at the World Trade Center in New York City last September 11th? What was the first thing you did when you heard the news?
I was working at CryptoLogic and had come in early as I always did. I had been working and hadn’t turned on my radio yet when I got a call from Ken who told me there was a plane sticking out of the World Trade Center. I managed to load the page on CNN right before the site crashed so people were crowding to my office in the back corner of the building to see this image that none of us could see otherwise. We had the radio on and when the second plane went in the vast majority of the office headed downstairs to watch it on TV at a restaurant. One of my co-workers’s father was giving a presentation at the Pentagon. I called Mary to see if they’d heard and what was happening. By this time the office was clearing out, as was the city of Toronto. However, her office wasn’t letting people go, and since we’d car pooled, that stranded me in the city too. At that time there was a rumour the White House was on fire and we were all wondering if Toronto was on the hit list. I ended up heading out around 5:00PM and the entire city of Toronto was almost empty. I had never before, and likely never will, see the city like that at rush hour on a Tuesday again. Once home I basically spent the rest of the week working during the day and watching TV at night.
2. When those truly responsible for the attack are apprehended, what do you think would be the most fitting form of justice?
There is no fitting form of justice, really. How can you take the slaughter of thousands and attempt to wrap that around a gun, knife, or electric chair and call it justice? Justice to me is this not happening again, and people realizing that it serves no purpose on either side to massacre civilians to prove a point. Justice is the World learning from what happened, and I don’t think they have.
3. This will probably be much like when our parents respond to “Where were you when JFK was shot?”- an event never forgotten by those who were there. But how do you think the history books should present the 9-11 attacks? Should it be included for all future generations? How can we truly convey the shock, the outrage, the emotions and pain of that day to the children of our children?
We can’t truly convey the shock of 9.11, just as we will never understand what it was truly like for the leader of the United States to be assassinated. Just like we will never understand what it was truly like for our fathers and grandfathers to storm the beaches of European countries with guns to ensure we are free. Without experience there can be no true understanding – we can only teach our children compassion, love, and understanding in hopes that, maybe, they won’t have a defining horrible, awful, disgusting moment to write down in their children’s history books.
4. No one in that building, in the Pentagon, or on the planes (other than the terrorists) knew that 9-11 would be their last day to be alive. For me, it brought home the reality that I could be gone at anytime, without any warning. Now, I really want each day to have some value. Did the events of 9-11 bring about a change in the way you live your life?
Yes.
5. Several who loved to fly in planes will not step foot in one anymore. Many parents are more protective of their children. A year later, do you find yourself feeling more secure than back then? Or is it just a matter of time before something else happens?
The feeling of security or what-if isn’t something I tend to subscribe to. No amount of preparation and security can stop things from happening, they happen. I’m flying to Las Vegas on Monday without fear or apprehension. I flew to Florida in January without fear or apprehension. I still leave my house and I still sleep with the windows open.
6. The best way for me to honor the those impacted by the attack will be to refrain from any media that day. No papers, no radio and especially no television. Others will light candles, and others will attend special services. What, if anything, will you do to personally reflect on the tragedy?
I won’t be doing the regular grind of updating websites and e-mailing friends. I’m going to take time to reflect, watch some coverage, perhaps spend some time with family. A year ago a group of terrorists took a huge part of me with them and drove it into a building. By the end of that week I was sent home from work and had family and friends calling to make sure I was ok. Because I wasn’t. I’ll never be ok with what happened that day. I think lighting some candles, watching some TV remembrance, and hopefully shooting some pool with my grandfather will help me not only remember what our World lost last year, but help me to know what I have right now.
7. One of the visuals that touched me the most were the walls and walls full of hand made “Missing” posters. What image will you always have in your mind when you recall the events of 9-11?
Too many. Being there at the site in November left so many images burned in my mind that will never, ever go. The missing posters were everywhere. The letters from children killed me. The Manhattan clothing store with the glassed in area full of dirty, dusty clothes – preserved as they had found it. The scene of the second plane screaming past the shoulder view of a camera to slam into the tower. But most of all? The undeniable face of evil rising out of the smoke from the second tower explosion. I must have watched that a hundred times, not believing what I saw. I know pictures can be altered – this one isn’t, you can see it in the video from CNN.
See you Thursday.