collapse

* Recent Posts

"Christ Is King" by Altair
[Today at 01:09:34 am]


Re: Cill Shift Schedule by SunflowerP
[Yesterday at 11:04:57 pm]


Re: Stellar Bling: The Good, the Bad, the OMG! by SunflowerP
[March 21, 2024, 11:21:37 pm]


Re: Spring Has Sprung! 2024 Edition by SunflowerP
[March 21, 2024, 10:24:10 pm]


Stellar Bling: The Good, the Bad, the OMG! by Altair
[March 21, 2024, 02:52:34 pm]

Author Topic: 9/11/2001, 18 years ago today  (Read 4321 times)

Hariti

  • Sr. Master Member
  • *******
  • Join Date: Mar 2017
  • Location: Washington
  • *
  • Posts: 942
  • Country: us
  • Kyrie Eleison
    • View Profile
  • Religion: Extremely Eclectic
  • Preferred Pronouns: she/they
9/11/2001, 18 years ago today
« on: September 11, 2019, 05:51:14 am »
So. I felt like I should start a threat for this. I dunno if there is already one, I looked and didn't see one.

I am sure everyone here is familiar with what happened 18 years ago today, on September 11th, 2001; that was the day when Al Qaeda perpetuated a terror attack that cost the lives of nearly 3,000 people (2,996 to be exact).

It was a day that marked a major change in global, and American, culture. Everything changed on 9/11, to the point that "post 9/11 world" is now a commonplace term in political discussions.

However, amidst all the political and social ramifications of the attack, it is increasingly easy, as time goes on, to overlook the actual people who died that day.

So I started a threat here so that we, at the Cauldron, could honor their memory.

lit candle image
"The worshippers of the gods go to them; to the manes go the ancestor-worshippers; to the Deities who preside over the elements go their worshippers; My devotees come to Me." ... "Whichever devotee desires to adore whatever such Deity with faith, in all such votaries I make that particular faith unshakable. Endowed with that faith, a votary performs the worship of that particular deity and obtains the fruits thereof, these being granted by Me alone." - Sri Krishna

Donal2018

  • Sr. Master Member
  • *******
  • Join Date: Dec 2018
  • Location: New York
  • Posts: 513
  • Country: us
    • View Profile
  • Religion: Universalist
Re: 9/11/2001, 18 years ago today
« Reply #1 on: September 11, 2019, 03:24:19 pm »
So. I felt like I should start a threat for this. I dunno if there is already one, I looked and didn't see one.

I am sure everyone here is familiar with what happened 18 years ago today, on September 11th, 2001; that was the day when Al Qaeda perpetuated a terror attack that cost the lives of nearly 3,000 people (2,996 to be exact).

It was a day that marked a major change in global, and American, culture. Everything changed on 9/11, to the point that "post 9/11 world" is now a commonplace term in political discussions.

However, amidst all the political and social ramifications of the attack, it is increasingly easy, as time goes on, to overlook the actual people who died that day.

So I started a threat here so that we, at the Cauldron, could honor their memory.

lit candle image


Yes, thanks for starting this thread. I have been doing some prayers for lost family members and ancestors lately. I will include those lost 18 years ago.

RandallS

  • Site Admin
  • *
  • Join Date: Jun 2011
  • Location: NE Ohio
  • Posts: 10311
  • Country: us
    • View Profile
  • Religion: Hellenic Pagan
Re: 9/11/2001, 18 years ago today
« Reply #2 on: September 11, 2019, 06:01:57 pm »
However, amidst all the political and social ramifications of the attack, it is increasingly easy, as time goes on, to overlook the actual people who died that day.

I find that the pundits and news media seem to gloss over the people lost any more when talking about 9/11 in order to talk about the political and other fallout. The "normal people", especially those who remember the event,  I hear talking about it usually  don't, instead they focus more on the people lost. Those of us who remember that horrible day, never forget the people lost that day and those first responders lost years later to the effects what they did on that day.

lit candle image
Randall
RetroRoleplaying [Blog]: Microlite74/75/78/81, BX Advanced, and Other Old School Tabletop RPGs
Microlite20: Lots of Rules Lite Tabletop RPGs -- Many Free

Morag

  • Senior Staff
  • *
  • Join Date: Jun 2011
  • Location: witch's hut down the lane
  • *
  • Posts: 2735
  • Country: ca
  • cranky witch mom
    • View Profile
    • Priestess of the 3
  • Religion: Priestess of the 3
  • Preferred Pronouns: she/her
Re: 9/11/2001, 18 years ago today
« Reply #3 on: September 11, 2019, 06:30:48 pm »
Those of us who remember that horrible day, never forget the people lost that day and those first responders lost years later to the effects what they did on that day.

I saw a thread on Twitter today about a special class of first responders that I wanted to share here. The goodest boys and girls--the SAR dogs deployed to Ground Zero and the Pentagon:


lit candle image
Pray drunk. Hex sober.
Priestess of the 3
"The most powerful god at any given moment is the one who can solve the moment's problem."
-Darkhawk

Aisling

  • Senior Staff
  • *
  • Join Date: Jun 2011
  • Posts: 4222
  • Country: us
    • View Profile
  • Religion: Eclectic Pagan Witch
Re: 9/11/2001, 18 years ago today
« Reply #4 on: September 11, 2019, 09:17:26 pm »
However, amidst all the political and social ramifications of the attack, it is increasingly easy, as time goes on, to overlook the actual people who died that day.

So I started a threat here so that we, at the Cauldron, could honor their memory.

Lost, but never forgotten.

lit candle image

"The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you." -
Neil deGrasse Tyson

Altair

  • Staff
  • *
  • Join Date: Jul 2011
  • Location: New York, New York
  • *
  • Posts: 3752
  • Country: us
  • Fly high and make the world follow
    • View Profile
    • Songs of the Metamythos
  • Religion: tree-hugging pagan
  • Preferred Pronouns: he/him/his
Re: 9/11/2001, 18 years ago today
« Reply #5 on: September 13, 2019, 08:01:37 am »
So I started a thread here so that we, at the Cauldron, could honor their memory.

I want to focus on what came immediately after. This will be long.

New York, in the days that followed that Tuesday, was like an occupied town. Military transports and troops were on our streets, fighter jets flew over regularly, and if I remember correctly, they weren’t letting traffic in or out of Manhattan; anyway, it felt that way. The city below 14th Street—a huge swath, and what most would call downtown—was closed off, businesses not allowed to open. Most offices in the city, including mine, were shuttered. To step outside was to smell an acrid odor, especially when the wind shifted from the south. Yet still, incongruously, spectacular September weather persisted, just as it had on that day.

We were all cooped up in our small apartments, glued to the local all-news channel, NY1. Then on Wednesday, a NY1 reporter announced that there was a triage center opening at Chelsea Piers—the same “latitude” as my apartment back then, but on the opposite, far west side of the island from my place on the extreme east side. “They need ice, clothes, toiletries…”  The reporter’s list galvanized me: Finally! Something to do! So I dashed to the corner supermarket and bought out all their ice, adding it to the box I’d filled with extra T-shirts, and waited for the crosstown bus (they were running again, finally) to take me to the west side.

As I waited, another guy came to the bus stop, box of stuff in his arms. “You heard the NY1 report too, eh?” I said, and we nodded to each other as we boarded the bus.

As the bus made its way west, more and more people got on, all carrying boxes of stuff. By the time the bus neared Chelsea Piers, the bus was full, and out its windows I could see a human river of people of every kind, carrying boxes and pulling wagons and pushing carts, all loaded with supplies, flowing west. I have never held my city dearer to my heart than in that moment. It remains the most inspiring thing I’ve ever seen.

When I got back home, the NY1 reporter was back on the TV: “No more! STOP! The triage center has more than they know what to do with!”

For a brief time, and maybe the only time, we New Yorkers were gentle with each other. There was no bloodlust for revenge, not that I heard, not from anyone who lives here; just grief and a longing to heal our city. A longing for the city we’d known before that day. And most of all, a longing for the lost people.

I say “people,” not Americans, because in this cosmopolitan city, the dead were from every corner of the globe. It was particularly tough in my neighborhood, mere blocks from an old armory building that was turned into the center to search for missing loved ones. That proximity meant the area was flooded with “Missing” posters, hastily made xeroxes plastered on walls and lampposts. Faces stared back at you, invariably smiling from a photo taken at a birthday party or some other happy occasion. A titan of finance, a cook at Windows on the World restaurant, a twentysomething secretary just starting their career…and also invariably, the words in the description: “Worked on the 110th floor”…”Office on the 115th floor”…and you just knew that, against all the hope lovingly poured into that xerox, they were gone. Those smiling faces haunted the city for months.

At that time, Rob Deraney and I had just started dating, and while he was a great guy, I had already pretty much decided there wasn’t a spark. Still, I figured I’d give it a chance, and we were supposed to have a date sometime soon, when 9/11 happened. I knew he worked in the finance sector, but I also knew that his office was nowhere near the World Trade Center. I was secure in the knowledge that none of the smiling faces were known to me personally.

But I would soon learn that, of all the awful, stupid luck, Rob had attended a breakfast meeting on the morning of September 11th, on the highest floors of the towers. And then he was gone.



My office re-opened on Friday. The string of perfect-weather days was over. I went out for lunch in the overcast gloom, ran into a perfect stranger, and we had a grilled cheese sandwich together at a local diner.

Finally, on that Friday, it rained.

The first song sets the wheel in motion / The second is a song of love / The third song tells of Her devotion / The fourth cries joy from the sky above
The fifth song binds our fate to silence / and bids us live each moment well / The sixth unleashes rage and violence / The seventh song has truth to tell
The last song echoes through the ages / to ask its question all night long / And close the circle on these pages / These, the metamythos songs

Aisling

  • Senior Staff
  • *
  • Join Date: Jun 2011
  • Posts: 4222
  • Country: us
    • View Profile
  • Religion: Eclectic Pagan Witch
Re: 9/11/2001, 18 years ago today
« Reply #6 on: September 16, 2019, 06:52:49 pm »
I want to focus on what came immediately after. This will be long.


No words other than ((((Altair))))

"The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you." -
Neil deGrasse Tyson

Tags:
 

Related Topics

  Subject / Started by Replies Last post
10 Replies
3769 Views
Last post September 12, 2011, 11:24:39 am
by Starglade
0 Replies
716 Views
Last post September 25, 2013, 12:26:41 pm
by leo8686
7 Replies
1452 Views
Last post November 26, 2013, 06:54:49 pm
by Aisling
0 Replies
1983 Views
Last post October 30, 2015, 06:47:19 pm
by Newsposter
1 Replies
1804 Views
Last post July 20, 2019, 01:43:30 pm
by RandallS

* Who's Online

  • Dot Guests: 165
  • Dot Hidden: 0
  • Dot Users: 1
  • Dot Users Online:

* Please Donate!

The Cauldron's server is expensive and requires monthly payments. Please become a Bronze, Silver or Gold Donor if you can. Donations are needed every month. Without member support, we can't afford the server.

* Shop & Support TC

The links below are affiliate links. When you click on one of these links you will go to the listed shopping site with The Cauldron's affiliate code. Any purchases you make during your visit will earn TC a tiny percentage of your purchase price at no extra cost to you.

* In Memoriam

Chavi (2006)
Elspeth (2010)
Marilyn (2013)

* Cauldron Staff

Host:
Sunflower

Message Board Staff
Board Coordinator:
Darkhawk

Assistant Board Coordinator:
Aster Breo

Senior Staff:
Aisling, Allaya, Jenett, Sefiru

Staff:
Ashmire, EclecticWheel, HarpingHawke, Kylara, PerditaPickle, rocquelaire

Discord Chat Staff
Chat Coordinator:
Morag

'Up All Night' Coordinator:
Altair

Cauldron Council:
Bob, Catja, Chatelaine, Emma-Eldritch, Fausta, Jubes, Kelly, LyricFox, Phouka, Sperran, Star, Steve, Tana

Site Administrator:
Randall

SimplePortal 2.3.6 © 2008-2014, SimplePortal