September 11th 2002 ..The 1st Anniversary

[Godiva]

This comming Wednesday will mark 6 weeks till Sept 11th.......

 

 

 

 

 

What will you be doing?

How will you commemorate that day?

Where will you be?

 

I have been thinking about it recently and the chatter at work has started again about that dreadful day. As a native New Yorker, I will be in NYC. I have already requested the Sept 10th, 11th and 12th off from work. Many people at my job and friends of mine have requested the day off.

 

My store has purchased some grocery credit cards for the Police and Fire depts around the block from us who lost 2 and 5 men respectively. The last time we sent food but most of it was donated or it would have gone bad. This way they can buy what they need. I felt a little gittery donating money.

 

I will spend the morning alone (which is how I want it). I will spend the afternoon visiting Grand Central Station were a memorial still stands. I remember when they put it up within weeks of the event. Of course I will visit Ground Zero (and maybe stop in to Century 21...I love that store) In the evening I will dine with close friends.

 

I can't imagine what will be going on in the firehouses and police stations.

 

The friends I lost... I will call their spouses later in the week as they will probably be deluged with calls. If they have a Candlelight Vigil in Bryant Park.. we will be there. I wanna feel the love again.

 

Well these are some of my ways at commemorating 9/11. Of course as we get closer it could change. What are yours?? Perhaps we could all get some great ideas from each other.

[mmk]

I knew it was coming up but I have the feeling all eyes will be on New York City to see how they are recovering. While that tragedy did affect all of us and changed everybody in the country that day, I think that being in New York City that tragedy has never really ended since you have a constant reminder of it day and night. Other cities did not lose thousands of their citizens in the space of an hour like New York City did and be left a blatant reminder of it. If we do not want to here about Sept 11th anymore, we can turn off our tv's and radio's and go about our lives. A citizen of New York CIty who might attempt to do that cannot and probably never will.

[chrismac]

>A citizen of New York CIty who might attempt to do that cannot

>and probably never will.

 

Nor the employees of certain airlines, and to some extent - the citizens of Washington, D.C. and Arlington, VA.

 

Many of our flights are cancelled between Sept. 10-12. There will be a lot of tears and quiet phone conversations to colleagues.

[Guest Kalifornia]

This is an easy one, I'll be looking for an Arab to fuck and I mean really fuck!

 

Mark -Kalifornia

[Rick Munroe]

>I'll be looking for an Arab to fuck

 

Can I suck him first? :9

[+ Charlie]

I went online yesterday to book a trip, and then realized the return flight would have to be on Sep. 11. I decided that would be more tension and emotion than I wanted to deal with on a plane that day, so I cancelled the trip. I will stay home and watch the commemorations on TV, and remember in private all those I know who were personally affected by the events (the student whose brother was lost at the Pentagon, the friend who worked at Windows on the World, the classmate who was on flight 93, etc.)

[BgMstr4u]

I live in NYC, and spent many days and weeks volunteering at the WTC site in the months that followed, until the Red Cross took over and more or less destroyed the volunteer program, but that's another story...

 

I honestly don't know what I will be doing on 9/11/02. I do know I intend to stay in the city that day, both to exorcise the ghosts of fear and violence and to celebrate the place I love. Like most New Yorkers, I will probably engage in a mixture of frantic activity to cover anxiety over what may come next and unavoidable grief for irreplaceable loss and continuing trauma. I expect there will be civic and religious events galore, and will probably participate in one or more of them.

 

NYC is itself a miracle of human achievement. It is, quite simply, the greatest city built by man in our country, and on every level it soars -- physical, in the great buildings, parks and natural setting; human, in the enormous diversity of the people who live here; cultural, in the unbelievable variety of art, music, theatre, dance, and uncategorizable entertainments; religious, in the presence of virtually every spiritual expression known to the world; culinary, in the mind-numbing variety of restaurants, great and small, from every corner of the globe and every imaginable cuisine; and sexual, in the sheer beauty and vitality of its people.

 

I will probably find the right city poem from Walt Whitman or Frank O'Hara or someone in between, and share it. I will probably seek out one of the more interesting commemorative events and go to it. And for life affirmation, I will probably go to the Gaiety, to cheer on beauty, and then have a great dinner and go to the Town House to enjoy the company of other gay men of a certain age.

[Godiva]

MMK... you are so right..we are constantly reminded every day.. I go through Grand Central daily and out side of the Memorial Wall which continues to attract attention...There are the National Guard, Uniform Police, Bomb Sniffing dogs etc.

 

I run into people weekly not knowing that they survived (BTW I had a store a block away from the towers and catered to many WTC employees.) My store has relocated to Mid-town as did many WTC companies.

 

Even people you saw casually then have become like a long lost friends now.

 

NYC is certainly amazing.

[+ Axiom2001]

Ouch!!!!!

[+ Axiom2001]

>Ouch!!!!!

 

This is my response to Rick's-----ohhhhhhh, stop!

My vouyeristic tendencies are coming out...

[+ Axiom2001]

I hope to be lying on the shores in Maui at Makena Beach basking in the sun and witnessing my good friend sneaking camera shots of hot hung nude men walking around.

[+ Lucky]

So even when it comes to a horrible tragedy some of you guys just can't see past your dicks?

[Guest in yer face]

Ill be taking advantage of the extrodinarily low airfares.

[ad rian]

My variation on this question is to the Escorts. Did you work through last September 11th? Do you plan to be "on call" this September 11th? Was it then or do you expect it now to be a good or bad business day?

[Guest RushNY]

Thank god ill be out of the city in Puerto rico hopefully soaking up the rays with some cute hunky puerto rican guy by my side 9/11/01 is one day i dont wanna go thru EVER again

[Guest Thunderbuns]

>Thank god ill be out of the city in Puerto rico hopefully

>soaking up the rays with some cute hunky puerto rican guy by

>my side 9/11/01 is one day i dont wanna go thru EVER again

 

Rush - it's good to hear from you again. I was worried for a while. Even posted a WEHT and got no reply. Hope everything is OK in your world and with the BF.

 

Thunderbuns

[Godiva]

10 more days and the city is gearing up for a very emotional week..

The chatter about 9/11 is overwhelming.. It seems so far that most of my customers will not be working that day. Roughly half of those will be attending some sort of memorial...What have you others decided to do??

[Godiva]

Good luck today and especially tommorrow guys. May God continue to bless each of you and your loved ones during these sad times.

 

Please say a special prayer for us here in NYC..

[Guest dstud4hire]

I will be spending the day off from work, because I do want it to be a day of personal reflection....I will probably watch some of the TV coverage...and later in day, my close circle of friends decided to get together for dinner with one another.

 

My thoughts and prayers of course to all of you in NY, but even more so, to all of us, not just New Yorkers, or Washingtonians, or airlines crew...but to all of us...that day was a day that directly impacted so many around the globe, it was a very stressful day in our lives, and should be a day that we not only remember the victims, but that we take care of one another also...take the time to just be a bit friendlier, or smile to that stranger you may not ordinarilly smile at, or give something back to the community...whatever....or just simply do something special for yourself...

 

9/11 seems like it was just yesterday....I can remember getting a call from a friend who was relieved to hear my voice and that I was ok, for she knew that I do a lot of travel and that I go to NYC a lot. (In fact, I had been down in that area only a couple days previous) I asked her "why shouldn't I be ok?" and that is when I heard the news....I immediately worried for my brother, who worked for one of the airlines struck, and flies that route. I would hear from him an hour later, when he was forced to land in another city because of the skies being shut down.....I will never forget trying to reach my mom, who was in the middle of a cruise, and very hard to reach. I knew that they would have had to have heard the news, but had no way of reaching us perhaps.... both her boys spend a lot of time traveling the skies, so I knew she would be worried...and then when she did call , several hours later, I will never forget finally getting a hold of her, and hearing her break down in tears knowing both her boys were ok; I will never forget trying to call a lot of my NY and DC friends, hoping and praying there weren't killed, and also calling many of my friends who are attendants for the struck carrier, and realizing, as the names were being known, that at least one name I recognized...a sisster of someone I knew was one of the attendants, and when I did chat with friends who worked those routes, listening to them talk about their friends killed, and of course, the thing that I will remember most, would be the helpless, sinking feeling I had when watching on live TV the 1st tower fall. I just sank down on the couch, let out a brief scream of "but all those people" and just wept...saying this "can't be"......I was supposed to have clients all that week, they all understandably cancelled (many were flying in, so couldn't come in) , when I finally did have some bookings a few days later, it was a very different experience, much more talkative, and in some case, clients just letting go, shedding a tear, some where from the East Coast, (incl NY) .I guess we will never forget that day, as much as we would like to.

 

So, I will say a special prayer, and hope that this year's 9/11 sees us doing nicer things to one another, saying nicer things to one another, and just making that extra effort...take care, and Godbless.

[chrismac]

Gabriel - that's a wonderful post.

 

I realize that people will choose to spend the day in many different ways, each according to their own ways of dealing with tragedy and stress. I suppose that's appropriate - but I think Gabriel summed it up best when he said that whatever we'll be doing, let's try to reach out to people and share some kindness, especially tomorrow.

 

There are many, many people, in New York and across the country who are alone, and will be tomorrow. If you see someone who seems particularly alone and detached - try to reach out to them. There is no sadder feeling than not being able to share one's grief, fear, and anxiety with another human being, when all around you people are hugging and comforting each other.

 

A hug to everyone -

[Guest dstud4hire]

Thx , appreciate it.

 

Such an odd feeling, as the midnight hour grew closer, just thinking about it all the time.....

 

godbless