in remembrance

tower of lights, taken on Sept. 11, 2005

wow, has it's been 5 years already??!
i know there are two 9/11 movies currently released ("World Trade Center" starring Nicholas Cage, and "United 93"). some wonder whether Americans are ready for them? there are probably people who thinks it's too soon, most likely someone who has lost a loved one from the tragedy, or someone who actually escaped and survived the collapse of the towers, or who knows such a person. or someone who was working nearby and witnessed the building collapse. or anybody in America, for that matter, who feels that it was too painful of an event to get over and is simply not ready to re-live it all over again on a large, wide screen and in surround sound. and i don't blame them.

a friend of mine, a co-worker who i got to know pretty well while working at the NY Community Trust in NY, has several 9/11-related stories hitting too close-to-home. her cousin worked in the twin towers and was lucky to have escaped. my friend had gotten married earlier this year, and her husband is also a survivor who worked in one of the ill-fated towers (he was her cousin's co-worker). after the the first tower was hit, despite announcements to remain at their desks, he and some co-workers (including my friend's cousin) wisely decided to get the heck out of there and made their way down to safety. sadly, the rest of their co-workers who stayed at their desks perished. my friend didn't meet her husband until AFTER Sept. 11th. imagine if he hadn't made it out, my friend would've never had the chance to meet him, fall in love, and marry him. luckily, this was a happy story.

the sad story involves my friend's aunt, who'd been visiting from the Dominican Republic. the cousin who escaped from the twin towers was actually this aunt's daughter. after that close call, her aunt became terrified of staying in a city and country under terrorist attacks. she was so worried that she decided to fly home two months later. on Nov. 12th, she flew on American Airlines flight 587, a New York flight bound for the Dominican Republic. tragically, the plane crashed shortly after takeoff from JFK airport, killing all 260 people aboard... including my friend's aunt. incredibly eerie and sad, right? to this day, my friend is terrified of flying.

here's in remembrance of it all... the survivals and the losses...

mourners on Sept. 11, 2004 at the World Trade Center site during the morning memorial