Sept. 11, 2002: The Morning After

I spent much of yesterday talking over the last year with Suzan. She was camping with her sister on September 11 of last year and didn’t find out what had happened until a few days later. We both realized how much farther our relationship had come since then, how much better we understand each other and how much easier it is to share our fears.

That night I spoke to my friend Laura who came home from work early last September 11th. We spent the day together, watching news, talking but mostly just being there for each other through a lot of long silences. We ended the conversation yesterday with this.

“It was honor to spend that terrible day with you.”

“For me too.”

When I went to bed, I prayed that one clear day in the future, we can take this horrible experience and use it to reach beyond ourselves, to become better people rather than swearing new ways to enact revenge.

I hope.

• Category: Zeitgeist