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| Ladder 1, Engine 7: The Miracle House |
Today I feel pain. An unbearable amount of pain. As a New Yorker, September 11th is a day never to be forgotten despite the pain it brings back.
I was in California that fateful day. I had an interview around 7:00 a.m. Pacific time, 10:00 a.m. New York time. The executive I was interviewing was in New York but didn't know clearly what was going on and neither did I. I knew that something horrible had happened because two friends from New York had called me right around the time the first plane hit. They had heard the plane fly very low next to their apartments. My television had been stolen by the movers that moved me from New York and I hadn't bought a new one. I had to go to a friend's house in Hermosa Beach to find out what had happened. All I remember is watching the sight of the towers coming down and each single time I would say "I don't believe it, I don't believe it". That's all I could say because it was beyond belief to see those towers come down.
I was supposed to go to New York on September 12th. All flights were cancelled. I took the first flight out which was on Saturday morning, September 16th. I wasn't afraid. I brought a cable with me to fight off any potential hijackers on the plane - I felt ready.
When I got to New York, I immediately headed to my friend's apartment in Soho, blocks away from the World Trade Center. I could see the flames and the smoke all the way from 34th Street. As I got closer to where the towers used to be, I could feel the particles of the buildings in my throat. Restaurants in Soho were offering champagne to everyone that passed by. I had a glass in the name of all the victims.
All those people, all that suffering...it's very hard. A war against civilians. It couldn't be more cowardly to go after unarmed civilians. A woman that left her children at school minutes ago before going to work, a man that traveled from Europe to meet with colleagues at the World Trade Center, another woman that was late to work and missed the attack because she met a celebrity on her way to work (all true stories of the 3,000 plus people that didn't survive the attack. Father Mychal Judge not able to give reassuring looks to those unbelievably brave firemen. It breaks my heart in ways too difficult to express.
New York is my city. I didn't grow up in New York but spent many important, formative years, in New York. I remember living in New York city as a 15-year old, not knowing what it all meant, not really communicating with the skyscrapers. And having difficulty communicating with people as I came with a European accent. They didn't know what I was saying, I didn't want to hear what they were saying.
Yet New York is an amazing city. Full of all kinds of people, you can spot at least 10 nationalities in a small radius of New York. You hear all kinds of languages, most I can recognize but others remain foreign.
And New York people, innocent people, were destroyed by cowards. Cowards that chose the dark side of religion to destroy others.
Very painful.
So many people showed their invincible and infinite spirits that day. It is an incredible sad and inspiring day about the power inside each human being. Those brave and beautiful souls - the firemen - that walked up interminable staircases to save others and those that stopped on their way down as they were going to safety to help those that couldn't move out of fear or because they had been burnt or hurt in the attack. I saw the documentary about Ladder 1, Engine 7 tonight...one of the many firehouses that face death every single day in order to save other people's lives. It is called the Miracle House because none of the men in Ladder 1, Engine 7 died on September 11th. However, there are lingering effects from September 11th related to toxic fumes that the heroic and brave firefighters inhaled as they were trying to recover the remains of the victims of 9/11. There are many that died as a result of inhaling those fumes. They are also victims of 9/11.
That's what life is about. Life and death next to each other. Our last breadth could be in ten more minutes or less. Miracles, courage, and an invincible spirit. And a profound homage to those that didn't make it but are in heaven, proud to have made this beautiful city a place where hearts beat in unison on behalf of others.
Love to all, peace to all...and profound thanks to the heroes of 9/11, many of whom no one knows about.
If you feel inspired to donate to the Firefighters Association, here is the link: http://www.ufalocal94.org.
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