When I got on the train this morning, I was still groggy, fixated on the rain and humidity, not paying attention to the day. Even after I'd sat down and folded my sports page as per train etiquette, I wasn't thinking about the date. But I overheard a man say "six years" and I remembered.I was shocked that it had floated past me. It's not as though I've completely forgotten. I assigned pieces related to 9/11 and we have a story that I held for posting till today. Indeed, 9/11 was on my mind a lot over the past weekend. But this Tuesday morning, it wasn't there.
I reflected briefly on how different this Tuesday, September 11 is from the previous Tuesday, September 11 six years ago. That day was beautiful, blue skies and pleasant temperatures. Today is disgusting. Rain and humidity, grey and dismal. A 180 degree difference.
While it is probably different around the country, we still talk about 9/11 a lot in the New York/New Jersey area. It remains a significant point of demarcation: "Was that pre-9/11?" ... "I switched jobs after 9/11" ... "I started working from home after 9/11" ... etc. And pass by a restaurant table and you might hear smatterings of words "North Tower" ... "second plane" ... and you know exactly what is being discussed. For the forseeable future and beyond, it will always be this way. It should be. We move on, but we never forget.
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