Every year, the first Sunday after Labor Day
our street has its block party.
We throw a decent gig....
No rockin' bands or potato sack races,
but we rent the jumpy house,
ask the local fire department to show off their cool tower ladder truck
and we have a cake walk.
Someone paints eager faces
and others dj and kareoke to bad teeny bop music.
Boys and girls race up and down the street on bikes,
scooters and bare feet
while the grown ups catch up on neighborly happenings
and enjoy a brew or three.
It's a fun, relaxed day with food, music
and the din of kid joy.
And really, today was no different
than the past six or so block parties on our street...
Families enjoyed a beautiful day with each other
and our neighbors...
We have a pretty happy street,
with young families and lots of little kids...
We know in times of trouble
that we can count on each other for help and comfort...
On September 11, 2001, most of us didn't know each other.
Many of us didn't live on our street yet...
Tom and I were renting a small apartment
about a mile west of where we live now...
We had been married 11 months
and Tom was home that day...
I took the train to work that morning
to find my coworkers huddled around one guy's computer...
I thought perhaps they were viewing a joke or something,
until I saw the look on their faces...
About that time, Tom called me from home...
"A plane hit the World Trade Center,
and I don't know what's going on,
but stay close to your phone," he said...
My company had about 500 employees
working in the building which sat
about three blocks away from the Sears Tower...
We went to the fitness room in the building
to watch on the TV what was happening...
When the first tower collapsed,
Tom screamed over my speaker phone,
"I don't care if no one in your company is leaving.
They don't know any more than anyone else does....
COME HOME NOW!"
And with that, I left
and jumped on an empty El train north...
I notice the gorgeous blue sky was void of aircraft
and I scanned the city skyline as the train rumbled home...
Soon after, I am told, all of the Loop was evacuated
and it was hard to find space on the packed trains...
Many people talk about how cordial
and polite everyone was to each other
in the days afterward...
How we were in this together....
How America was one and strong and resilient...
Many more now talk about how divided
we have become again, especially politically...
How we have forgotten how to work together,
to be kind to one another,
to give each other the benefit of the doubt...
And it's probably true...
But what I know is that today,
ten years and two kids later...
Families have moved on with life,
have made positive differences in the world
and have held tight to the old fashioned notion
that friends and neighbors matter,
at the heart of it all...
So while our little ones on our street don't have a frame of reference
to fully understand the gravity of 9/11,
they can grasp that families, friends and neighbors
are watching out for them...
And that is worth fighting for...
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