I haven't written about it much on past anniversaries, but I'll make a very brief exception this year because it is the 20th.
By the way, the photo above is the McDade Park, Scranton 9/11 memorial. Simple, elegant and in a lovely location.
I was on vacation, alone, in Baltimore back in 2001. It was a tough day to be away from family and friends, and I cut the vacation short. I was home the next day.
When the planes hit, I was in my car, on the beltway, on my way to do some sight seeing, so I didn't see the video until hours later. Some things remain with me-- the people crying as they watched televisions in a shopping mall, the stores closing, people running for the doors, the beltway at a crawl because everything shut down at once. I had dinner in a Wendy's near my hotel. The place was packed. No one made a sound. I've never experienced that many, so quiet, for so long.
9/11 was a day when we shared our grief, and it seems to have affected everyone differently.
