Oops -- Catching Up
I know it's Saturday and I usually don't write anything but I realized I hadn't written since Tuesday. I was going to write this long drawn out 9/11 post but then I couldn't because it hurt too much.
Instead I did what I do on most 9/11 since 2001 and I mourn. I grieve. I think I'm going to go back to NY and then don't. My friend has been back since and she said it was the hardest thing to do. She's from New Jersey. I'm from Arkansas. My connection to NY is through my dad who was born in Brooklyn and raised in Queens which is probably where I get a lot of my attitude, gusto, and can-do spirit. I fall, I stumble, but I pick my self up and dust off the haters. The last time we were both there at the World Trade Center was August 21, 2001. I loved those towers. One of my favorite hats which is well-worn says "Top of the World Trade Center" which I got on December 31st, 1999 when we all thought we were gonna die because of Y2K.
As I interview for jobs and meet people they give me a look and say "Have we met before?" I smile. I'm used to it. I've had random strangers hug me mistaking me for someone they know or knew. I've been mistaken for a dead loved one once. I just go with it, it's my character and personality. I can create instant rapport with people who then think they've known me forever. At the places I've worked I've had many conversations that were "Hey, remember when so-and-so did that thing" and I have to remind them no...I wasn't there.
In 1999 I met a girl at the Warner Bros Store in the mall of the WTC. In 2001 she happened to be working the day I was there and yelled out "Arkansas Girl!" I was shocked she remembered me and we spent most of the morning talking about our mutual love of Harry Potter where I bought my HP Quidditch Shirt and a stuffed Hedwig the Owl for my mom.I asked her what she thought of working in the WTC and she said "it was the best!" I caught up with my friend and she asked if I wanted to go up to the top again. I said no and then said the words that would be thrown back in my face two weeks later "No, we've been here before. We'll be here again, the World Trade Center isn't going anywhere."
