Sirens

[youareworthy]

Whenever my teenage sons play Grand Theft Auto, I get depressed and make them turn off the sound.

 

I had been separated from my husband for about 3 weeks, and the children and I had been in our new rental home for less than a week. I had the weight of the lives and futures of our four small children on my shoulders. The phone rang; it was my mom. She told me that a little while before, a plane had crashed into one of the twin towers in NYC, and the building was burning. No one understood how a huge plane like that, full of passengers, had gotten into the wrong airspace. While we were on the phone, she said, "Oh no, another plane has just crashed into the other tower!" While we were crying, and trying to sort out these horrors, she said the news was reporting that a plane had just hit the Pentagon, which is about 10 miles from my home. She said there was a fourth plane missing. The authorities were afraid it was headed for the White House or Congress. After we learned the whole story, each subsequent detail unfolding as we spoke, I said, "You are kidding, right?" She said, "I wish I were. I am so sorry, honey."

 

Incomprehensible. So much carnage, so much hatred, so much loss.

 

The rest of the day, there was no sound anywhere in the entire region. No airplanes, no helicopters, no traffic, no music. The only sound, relentless all day and the next two or three days, was of sirens. Everywhere, sirens. Never a break from the sirens. I cannot tolerate more than 2 minutes of Grand Theft Auto, or my heart is dragged defenselessly to that clear September day.

[Jibralta]

That was such a clear and beautiful day. I remember walking into work and thinking what a perfect day it was. And right at that moment a plane was smashing into one of the towers. Crazy.