NINETY-ONE DAYS
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Photo by Dan Chapman ©2001 Stanyan
Entertainment Group
A Thought for Today
We are no longer members of countries,
but citizens of the universe.
This is not an anniversary
anyone wants to commemorate but it can’t be allowed to pass unnoticed and
of course it won’t. By the days end all of us will be numbed by the TV
replays of the towers collapsing into dirt and dregs and dust, the
memories of where we were and what we were doing when the news reached us
of those twin giants falling, the Pentagon aflame and finally the coda to
that terrible day in an otherwise green field in Pennsylvania will come
back to us stronger than ever.
For the last month or so I’ve been holding on to a letter that my friend
Larry Baillie sent me after his visit to ‘The Site’ as it’s called by the
firefighters, policemen and rescue workers who have labored over it these
past ninety-one days: These bleak heart-breaking blocks of twisted metal,
pulverized plaster and cement have become better known by New Yorkers and
the rest of the world as Ground Zero.
Larry is in every way a man’s man, a steelworker and builder by profession
and a single parent who wants the best for the son he’s been raising by
himself. He has a practical, not without sentiment, approach to life that
other men appreciate and a romantic streak that seems irresistible to
women of every age.
His letter, like so many I’ve received since 9/11, is one I can’t seem to
let go of and have had great difficulty trying to answer. Looking at it
again it doesn’t really require an answer and knowing Larry he doesn’t
expect one. I do want to let all of you read it though. It is yet another
account of the aftermath of September 11th – a date none of us can or
should forget.
A LETTER FROM LARRY
Dear
Rod: I flew to New York on Thursday, (November 1st) to spend the weekend
in a city filled with so many fond memories for me, and to see at first
hand, the destruction of September 11th.
Early Friday morning, we turned west onto Rector Street from Broadway;
walked past Trinity Church, and went up one of the side streets, (I think
Greenwich or Washington) and suddenly, that all too familiar scene of the
catastrophe appeared in front of me. I was stunned! The images that I had
seen so often on television hadn't adequately prepared me for the enormity
of this moment.
Where those two beautiful towers had once stood so majestically, now
nothing but immense piles of ruins and total destruction. My heart was
breaking as I stared at what religious fanaticism and perverted hatred had
wrought. Those innocent lives lost; their families, the city and the many
nations left to mourn their sons and daughters; all that promise gone in
an instant. Such a terrible, terrible waste. This was devastation on a
monumental scale: totally incomprehensible.
The twin towers were a striking example of the engineering wonders that
man and technology are capable of accomplishing. The unbelievable scene
that I was staring at in abject horror, is also an example of what men are
capable of accomplishing. It somehow made me feel guilty, terribly
saddened, and I wept. The burly young Ironworker who accompanied me to the
wasted landscape of Ground Zero, told me that he had wept many times since
he had first arrived here; and this from a guy probably not often given to
displaying emotion.
I recalled my first visit to the World Trade Center construction site in
early 1970, when I worked on the Uris Building at Broadway and 50th
Street. My first weekend in the city, I caught the subway to lower
Manhattan to see what all the excitement was about. The north tower was
rising quickly, and the south tower was emerging out of the excavation. I
was overwhelmed at the magnitude of what was being built at that site; I
still am.
The World Trade Center complex was just a collection of buildings, but to
the thousands of people who worked there, to the tourists who visited
them, and to the people of New York City, they meant so much more than
that. They were a symbol of the greatness of a nation and of a city.
Buildings can, with time, be replaced. Lost lives, along with their dreams
and aspirations, are gone forever. Disrupted lives, immense grief, and
broken hearts, may, also with time, eventually heal. The memories of that
horrifying event, and its aftermath, will slowly fade, but must never be
forgotten. We need these memories to remind us to be ever vigilant against
the monstrous violence that can be launched against peaceful,
unsuspecting, innocent people, by evil men and the rogue nations that
sponsor them.
I'm at home now Rod, and I know that what I saw in New York will continue
to haunt me, perhaps forever. Still, I'm relieved that I visited the site
to say goodbye. I can't say that I feel any better, but perhaps now I can
begin to put it to rest. Take care, Larry
A FEW WORDS FROM MIKE
Michael Cline and Tom Truhe
have become close friends to Edward and myself in a very short but
important time for each of us. They too visited New York recently to see
first hand the results of 9/11 and came back with vivid stories of what
they saw and felt about Ground Zero / The Site. Tom is a dentist and
teacher and Michael an actor-writer and until recently both called New
York home so they’ve been deeply affected by the loss of a place they knew
and loved.
Mike told me:
“I spoke
with a girl I know who lives near The Trade Center and she said something
to the effect that the biggest difference now is that there is sunlight in
the neighborhood. It was just a remark,” he went on, “not meant to be
profound or ironic.”
Well, Michael, sometimes the most offhand comments are the most profound,
ironic and in this case hopeful words.
Michael Cline, second from
left, with members of a New York Engine Co. that lost nearly a third of
its force. Photo by Tom Truhe
A
Little Sunlight
A little sunlight
where there has been none,
a bit more understanding
when some is needed.
A hand, an arm, a touch
none of these are much
but they are all and more
to the dark place
the misunderstood
and the hand and arm
that needs the like touch
never had, or long missed.
While you’re celebrating Old Blue Eyes' birthday tomorrow join
Webmaster Ken for his weekly This One Does it For Me feature.
RM 12/11/2001 12:10 AM
Previously unpublished
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