| *Sep 26 update, BMW's Red Cross X5s! * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, terrorists murdered the passengers and crew of 4 airplanes and used the airplanes themselves as exploding missiles, killing thousands of people in the World Trade Center Towers, and the Pentagon. I wonder if they ever considered that they were killing people of every country, every walk of life and religious background. Everyone lost someone when they bombed the World Trade Center. Including us. It is September 14th as I write this to you now. I was looking over the pages I wrote only Monday, seeing the people I was with last week. When I saw Lisa, I remembered how panicked I was when I could not find her for over a day after the attack. Lisa works in a building near the World Trade Center. I realized that the way I look at Lisa and all these friends now has changed. I have decided to update people on these pages for what I knew some of them were doing only a week after these pictures, because we nearly lost some of them- and we didn't. Pretty soon, things will be back as usual- except that they will never be the same.  -------------------------------------------------------------------------- September 18, 2001 Assembling these posts and images, piecing together days, and keeping my vigil on the vigil in Union Square. I wake up with these fears: That it wasn't all a bad dream That I forgot someone to look for That there is something more I could be doing That the people in Union Square will have given up the vigil The vigil began when a 19 year old student named Jordan Shuchuster came from my street and bought long pieces of cardboard stuck them to the ground in Union Square Tuesday night. He said, "People say, Who am I in relation to all this? People want to help but they don't have the means for it. A lot of people have a lot to get out- a lot of emotions and thoughts and ideas." Smart kid. How has life changed? Here is how we greet each other: Looking somone in the eyes we ask how they are. Hestitating we begin to ask the dangerous question. Is everyone...? And then we get ready for the answer. Once the inventory is complete, we answer ourselves. I am afraid to say that everyone I know is OK, because every other moment you are hearing about someone you didn't think possibly was near an attack. Everytime we hear a plane, we cringe. Seeing everyone cringe forces us to admit that we're expecting more trouble. We are afraid. As I tell the story from the Message Board posts, and the Homecoming and Fixit Day references, I will show you what was happening outside my window at the vigil around the same time as the posts were posted. One thing I have never felt during this horror is alone. I have always had the company of these people on the Internet, and the people in Union Square. Right now, there is some beautiful woman's singing voice coming from the Square, in the dark, she is singing to the hundreds of people gathered there, holding candles they brought from home. Ways To Contribute: One of the worst things about 9/11/01 was not being able to help people. One of the best things to come out of 9/11/01 how many people found ways to help. Here is a collection of alternative ways to help and get help, grassroots efforts, non monetary ways to contribute and continue the spirit of standing together against adversity. As one voice a mile away from Ground Zero, let me say that my idea of the best way to honor the meaning of 9/11 today is: Go To Work, Take a Plane, Love the people around you, Laugh with a friend and Learn something about at least one person who died on Flight 93, at the World Trade Center or the Pentagon.
Here are the links that I posted last year:
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Red Cross
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