Got off the bus at the end of my street. It was dark. I started towards the corner and then saw something out of the corner of my eye. Looked up. My breath caught in my throat.
There – above the building – beamed the two columns of light.
I had forgotten.
Not about the anniversary … but that they would be coming. The light beams.
I can’t describe my emotion when I saw them. There they were again, shining up into the black, until they were nothing, dissolving into space.
I can see them from my window. They’re visible when I lie my head on my pillow. I remember that from last year. But the beams weren’t there last night. And tonight … here they are.
What they mean is death. Death of thousands. I look at the silvery beams and can almost see the souls there. What they mean is remembrance. They are also telling us to prepare. It’s not the anniversary yet. The anniversary is still a couple days off. But today – here are the beams. A harbinger. A message. “Remember what approaches. Remember what’s coming. Remember.”
That must be something to see…
agreed. It must be amazing and heart-wrenching.
it’s funny what becomes a reminder to us. In 2001, when it happened, I was in the middle of teaching the chapter on probability to my stats students. Every year, when I open my notes again to review that chapter, it all comes back to me – first, the sadness and the horror, and the sense of “why the hell am I teaching probability when the world’s going to end?” and then the anger, and then, finally, the sense of “you know, maybe the human race isn’t a lost cause after all” as everyone came together to do what they could.
it’s ironic, I think (maybe that’s not the best word for it) that four years later we’re seeing a similar outpouring for the victims of Katrina.
although I really wish it didn’t take a terrorist act or a natural disaster to get people to care on this level.
ricki – Staring up at the beams – which literally disappear off into the sky – I thought of all the dead in the gulf as well.
Wow.
When I first read this post this morning it gave me goosebumps – and for some reason, the picture wasn’t showing up on my screen here at work – so it looked like you’d just left a long, white blank space at the end of the post. It was almost like a moment of silence to me.
i didn’t realize they did them before the actual day.
it’s going to be a little weird doing the 9/11 anniversary this year with katrina still so fresh…i don’t know how i’ll feel if there are big 9/11 ceremonies when there are still ppl in the south that need help so badly.
then again, it’s not something that should go un-commemorated, of course. at times i’ve thought it should be a holiday, but i’ve heard compelling arguments to the contrary, including that it would be a concession to the terrorists in a way, and because you’d never want to see the anniversary of those events marked by a mattress or used car sale. still, when that day falls on a work / school day, i often wish i had some time to myself at the actual times of the events (beginning at 8:46 am) to light candles and reflect. i did that on the first anniversary, but i had to skip almost all my classes to do it…
Great post.
Sheila, have you been to Bingley’s today yet? Good stuff there, also.
I’d recommend actually going down there at some point, red. It’s one thing to see them in the distance. It’s another to look up at them and remember what they used to represent.
Unfortunately, it’s not something that hits home for anyone who never looked up at the real towers, but for those who have, well.
I took a few shots of them two years ago. I make a point of visiting every year, now.
I was down there the first year they lit them up, Lion. It was extraordinary – it was still really messy down there, really chaotic – but those floodlights!
What I find ironic (if that’s the appropriate word) is the disaster of Katrina so close to 9/11. Very strange… and very real.