From the Day Terrorists Attacked My Neighborhood to Now

I've never felt more female than the day I gave birth to my daughter. And I have never felt more human than the day I stood with my neighbors and watched the Twin Towers across the street from our homes burn and fall.

I never thought I would be in a position to feel the level of powerlessness someone feels as they watch thousands of lives end.

I never thought I would feel lucky to have my family survive an international incident on my block. I never imagined I would experience the sensation of running for my life with my daughter in my arms. I never thought I would be evacuated from my home or that my daughter's school would turn into an Emergency Command Center, and the school beside hers a morgue.

I never dreamed that the opening of The Wonderful World of Disney show when Tinkerbell flies over the Magic Kingdom and sets off fireworks with her wand would be the only visual paradigm to capture the exploding silver façade of the second tower as it slowly came down glistening in the sun.

I never thought I would see fighter jets screaming over my head and wondering with thousands of others looking up at them, if they were ours.

I never thought I would have cause to feel so profoundly connected to my city and to my country.

And I never thought my leaders would squander the internationally unifying power of those moments.

Comments

[InternationalObserver]

I watched it half a world away, live on CNN and BBC World. It was an 'awesome' (negatively) spectacle. I still recall well the sense of dread (is this the Armageddon I'd heard about?) I felt watching it unfold.

And yes, the world was united in your grief and the sense that this 'attack' had broken all bounds of humanity and should not be tolerated.

But what did Bush do? He attacked Iraq instead and made a grab for the oil, thinking the US could establish a beach head in the mid east. And it turned out very badly. Bad for Iraq and bad for America (altho' most of you don't seem to get it) and bad for the rest of us who have been dragged into your War on Terror. (If it was real War on Terror we might have supported you)

And now your economy is sliding into the toilet, taking the rest of us with you. If any of you can still afford to travel abroad I suggest you claim to be Canadians.

[TedB]

Joyce, thanks for bring this up. I was thinking about this today as I watched some of the 9/11 coverage. "Today we are all Americans!" the papers declared in the days following the attack. I imagined what good things could have come from the worldwide unity created by this horrific episode. If only we had a true leader in the Whitehouse at the time instead of W....