2008 Woodie Awards
Looking back on Sept. 11
Carl Guastaferro
Issue date: 9/16/04 Section: Features
- Page 1 of 1
"Here's where it makes the most sense. You need it so you don't forget. Forget that there are places in the world that aren't made out of stone. That there's a - there's a - there's something inside that's yours, that they can't touch." -The Shawshank Redemption
It was about 9:30 in the morning when I woke up on Saturday. I went through the usual motions and read the morning headlines. I remembered what day it was, slipped on some sandals, and walked outside.
I took a short walk to the wall in Gartland that overlooks the river. It was early, and you could hear some birds in the distance. It is cliché, but the weather was just as beautiful as it was three years ago. I looked down at the Hudson River and saw someone cruising upstream in a motorboat. I saw the hills across from me and the trees and the houses that dot the landscape. I looked up and saw a beautiful sky with few clouds.
I had to remember what this valley in front of me witnessed three years before. It is believed that a man by the name of Mohammed Atta was the hijacker / pilot of Flight 11, the first plane to hit the World Trade Center. We have seen his face all over the press. His expression is grim, staring ahead, blank and emotionless. If you did a little research, you would find that Flight 11 flew right over this area in the Hudson River Valley. Atta used the Hudson River as a directional guide to fly south toward the Twin Towers. At 8:46 a.m. Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower.
I began to think about that short period of time when the plane was over this area as it flew toward New York City. I can imagine a million things going through his head at that time, but I do hope Mohammed Atta thought one thing. I hope he looked out of that cockpit and down upon the Hudson River Valley and saw how beautiful that morning was and realized that, despite his efforts, he and his cohorts could not take that away from us.
Their intentions that day were to terrorize the American people. Those of us living right outside of New York City definitely felt that. Some of us might remember the cars abandoned at train stations or the silent sky overhead, the national grounding of all flights, or the terrifying accounts of classmates' various relations to potential victims. I come from an area with many commuters, and many people in my neighborhood did not come home from their jobs in the city that day. Still, what we realize over time is that no matter how horrible that day was, we will prevail. There are certain things that terrorists just cannot touch. Just like everyone remembers how beautiful that day in 2001 was, we can see that today in our daily lives.
Whether you catch the sunrise or the sunset, or it just looks pleasant at that time, that moment of appreciating the local, natural beauty is yours. Maybe you are at a beach and it's a cool summer night or late spring day. Maybe you are doing a little backpacking and life just feels good. Whatever the case might happen to be, just remember that the moment is yours, and nobody can take that away from you.
It was about 9:30 in the morning when I woke up on Saturday. I went through the usual motions and read the morning headlines. I remembered what day it was, slipped on some sandals, and walked outside.
I took a short walk to the wall in Gartland that overlooks the river. It was early, and you could hear some birds in the distance. It is cliché, but the weather was just as beautiful as it was three years ago. I looked down at the Hudson River and saw someone cruising upstream in a motorboat. I saw the hills across from me and the trees and the houses that dot the landscape. I looked up and saw a beautiful sky with few clouds.
I had to remember what this valley in front of me witnessed three years before. It is believed that a man by the name of Mohammed Atta was the hijacker / pilot of Flight 11, the first plane to hit the World Trade Center. We have seen his face all over the press. His expression is grim, staring ahead, blank and emotionless. If you did a little research, you would find that Flight 11 flew right over this area in the Hudson River Valley. Atta used the Hudson River as a directional guide to fly south toward the Twin Towers. At 8:46 a.m. Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower.
I began to think about that short period of time when the plane was over this area as it flew toward New York City. I can imagine a million things going through his head at that time, but I do hope Mohammed Atta thought one thing. I hope he looked out of that cockpit and down upon the Hudson River Valley and saw how beautiful that morning was and realized that, despite his efforts, he and his cohorts could not take that away from us.
Their intentions that day were to terrorize the American people. Those of us living right outside of New York City definitely felt that. Some of us might remember the cars abandoned at train stations or the silent sky overhead, the national grounding of all flights, or the terrifying accounts of classmates' various relations to potential victims. I come from an area with many commuters, and many people in my neighborhood did not come home from their jobs in the city that day. Still, what we realize over time is that no matter how horrible that day was, we will prevail. There are certain things that terrorists just cannot touch. Just like everyone remembers how beautiful that day in 2001 was, we can see that today in our daily lives.
Whether you catch the sunrise or the sunset, or it just looks pleasant at that time, that moment of appreciating the local, natural beauty is yours. Maybe you are at a beach and it's a cool summer night or late spring day. Maybe you are doing a little backpacking and life just feels good. Whatever the case might happen to be, just remember that the moment is yours, and nobody can take that away from you.