A Day Of Reflection: 12 Years after 9/11

It feels as if it happened yesterday.  My husband and I were in the car, our 18 month-old baby boy in the back seat; we were all singing along to Sesame Street tunes.  We were heading into the city; my husband was going to work and I was taking my son to meet my mom for a day of shopping.  The sky was a clear blue – so beautiful.  Weather-wise, it was a perfect day.  As we came up over a hill on the Long Island Expressway, we saw the towers on fire.  It was surreal.  We turned off Elmo and turned on the news to hear about an “accident” which quickly changed to a “possible terror attack.”  We were in shock.  My brother-in-law was in one of those towers, along with my former boss and my colleagues from the job I had before my son was born.  My husband pulled across the expressway from the left lane and off the first exit of the highway and we began our phone calls.  But the calls weren’t going through.  I tried my boss, my mom, but didn’t get through to either.  I called my stepfather and told him to find my mom and get her into her apartment as I was worried about how close they lived to the UN and I thought that might be the next target.  Meanwhile, my husband called his brother and his mother.  He couldn’t reach his brother but the plan was to turn around and head back east to Long Island and wait for him at his house with our family for his return.  Four hours later, he walked through the door and my stoic and strong mother-in-law dropped to her knees and cried in front of us all.

Fast forward 12 years and I thank G-d for my son everyday.  Had it not been for him, I never would have left my job and I might have been there too.  I thank G-d for my brother-in-law’s survival instinct to clear his floor of employees and get the heck out of his building, walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and hop the last train to Long Island.  I thank G-d for my former boss, a child of the Cold War, who hid under her desk when the first plane hit, and then grabbed her sneakers and walked almost to Harlem on her own.  My heart aches for the families that were not as lucky as mine.  I think about the children in the daycare center I passed on my way into work everyday and wonder if they were all reunited with their families.  I think of my former co-worker and how her courageous brother lost his life that day entering the building as a firefighter, while she had left it two years prior for a new job.  When I think back, I am still in awe of how New Yorkers helped each other by lending phones, giving rides, and offering food and water to those who literally ran for their lives from the financial district on a day no one will forget.

This year on 9/11, I headed back into the city to see my mother, but this time my 13 year-old and his little sister were at school.  I worried that I would be far away from them all day as we no longer live in New York.  The day was hot and sticky; nothing like 12 years ago.  Once in Manhattan, the streets were alive with people.  And although the day weighed heavily on us all, people were living their lives.  As I drove home from my visit, I felt a wave of anguish spread over me.  How many people were mourning loved ones?  How many children never got to meet their fathers?  How many of those daycare kids, now in high school, are missing their moms?  The strength it must have taken these people to move on is awe-inspiring to me.  And yet, I am sure a few of them were amongst those in the bustling crowds.

This year, 9/11 and Jewish High Holy days fall at the same time.  During the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Jewish people are reflecting and repenting and making amends.  Recently, I heard my Rabbi say that we should not ask why something terrible has happened, because we will never know the answer.  It is better to focus on who we become by how we respond to tragedy.  While I reflect on the past year during these Days of Awe, I cannot help but look back to that beautiful Tuesday and on the days and weeks and years that followed.   New Yorkers, once considered brash and unfriendly, showed their true colors of resilience, bravery, courage, and kindness.  We didn’t focus on the why, we concentrated on how we as a people responded to it.  As we commemorate the anniversary of 9/11 this year and every year, we should remember those that were lost and we should honor the heroes that tried to save them.  And we should remember how we came together as New Yorkers and as a nation to support each other on that day and on every anniversary that has followed.  9/11 should be a day of remembrance, yes, but not only of what we lost, but also of what we gained – unity, strength as a nation, and a community of citizens who join together to support each other when it really counts.

Never Forget.

xo

B

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Beth Rosen

Eating Attitudes™ & Gut Expert

Beth Rosen, MS, RD, CDN is a Registered Dietitian and owner of Beth Rosen Nutrition. She practices a non-diet philosophy and is a Health at Every Size" practitioner. Her goal is to end the pain of diet culture, one person at a time. Beth's techniques and programs empower chronic dieters, and those who consider themselves emotional and /or stress eaters, to ditch the vicious cycle of dieting, eat fearlessly by removing Food and diet rules, and mend their relationship with food and their bodies. Beth's works face-to-face with clients in Southbury, CT, and virtually with clients, worldwide.

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