SUNDAY
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Rod &
Kubby. Photo by Bob Gentry, ©2002 by Stanyan Entertainment Group.
A Thought for Today
Now and again ask yourself if you are
doing enough for the people close to you. No matter who you are and how
much of yourself you're giving, the answer will always be no. Don't get
crazy, just do a little more. Give what you can. It will never be enough
but it will be more than you gave yesterday. And probably more than you
thought you were capable of giving.
FLIGHTS FROM6THE
PAST
DECEMBER 11, 2001
NINETY-ONE DAYS FROM NINE / ELEVEN
This is not an anniversary anyone wants to commemorate but it can’t be
allowed to pass unnoticed and of course it won’t. By the days end all of
us will be numbed by the TV replays of the towers collapsing into dirt and
dregs and dust, the memories of where we were and what we were doing when
the news reached us of those twin giants falling, the Pentagon aflame and
finally the coda to that terrible day in an otherwise verdant field in
Pennsylvania will come back to us stronger than ever.
For the last month or so I’ve been holding on to a letter that my friend
Larry Baillie sent me after his visit to ‘The Site’ as it’s called by the
firefighters, policemen and rescue workers who have labored over it these
past ninety-one days: These bleak heart-breaking blocks of twisted metal,
pulverized plaster and cement have become better known by New Yorkers and
the rest of the world as Ground Zero.
Larry is in every way a man’s man, a steelworker and builder by profession
and a single parent who wants the best for the son he’s been raising by
himself. He has a practical, not without sentiment, approach to life that
other men appreciate and a romantic streak that seems irresistible to
women of every age.
His letter, like so many I’ve received since 9/11, is one I can’t seem to
let go of and have had great difficulty trying to answer. Looking at it
again it doesn’t really require an answer and knowing Larry he doesn’t
expect one. I do want to let all of you read it though. It is yet another
account of the aftermath of September 11th – a date none of us can or
should forget.
A LETTER FROM LARRY
Dear Rod: I flew to New York on Thursday, (November 1st) to spend the
weekend in a city filled with so many fond memories for me, and to see at
first hand, the destruction of September 11th.
Early Friday morning, we turned west onto Rector Street from Broadway;
walked past Trinity Church, and went up one of the side streets, (I think
Greenwich or Washington) and suddenly, that all too familiar scene of the
catastrophe appeared in front of me. I was stunned! The images that I had
seen so often on television hadn't adequately prepared me for the enormity
of this moment.
Where those two beautiful towers had once stood so majestically, now
nothing but immense piles of ruins and total destruction. My heart was
breaking as I stared at what religious fanaticism and perverted hatred had
wrought. Those innocent lives lost; their families, the city and the many
nations left to mourn their sons and daughters; all that promise gone in
an instant. Such a terrible, terrible waste. This was devastation on a
monumental scale: totally incomprehensible.
The twin towers were a striking example of the engineering wonders that
man and technology are capable of accomplishing. The unbelievable scene
that I was staring at in abject horror, is also an example of what men are
capable of accomplishing. It somehow made me feel guilty, terribly
saddened, and I wept. The burly young Ironworker who accompanied me to the
wasted landscape of Ground Zero, told me that he had wept many times since
he had first arrived here; and this from a guy probably not often given to
displaying emotion.
I recalled my first visit to the World Trade Center construction site in
early 1970, when I worked on the Uris Building at Broadway and 50th
Street. My first weekend in the city, I caught the subway to lower
Manhattan to see what all the excitement was about. The north tower was
rising quickly, and the south tower was emerging out of the excavation. I
was overwhelmed at the magnitude of what was being built at that site; I
still am.
The World Trade Center complex was just a collection of buildings, but to
the thousands of people who worked there, to the tourists who visited
them, and to the people of New York City, they meant so much more than
that. They were a symbol of the greatness of a nation and of a city.
Buildings can, with time, be replaced. Lost lives, along with their dreams
and aspirations, are gone forever. Disrupted lives, immense grief, and
broken hearts, may, also with time, eventually heal. The memories of that
horrifying event, and its aftermath, will slowly fade, but must never be
forgotten. We need these memories to remind us to be ever vigilant against
the monstrous violence that can be launched against peaceful,
unsuspecting, innocent people, by evil men and the rogue nations that
sponsor them.
I'm at home now Rod, and I know that what I saw in New York will continue
to haunt me, perhaps forever. Still, I'm relieved that I visited the site
to say goodbye. I can't say that I feel any better, but perhaps now I can
begin to put it to rest. Take care, Larry
A FEW WORDS FROM MIKE
Michael Cline and Tom Truhe have become close friends to Edward and myself
in a very short but important time for each of us. They too visited New
York recently to see first hand the results of 9/11 and came back with
vivid stories of what they observed and felt about Ground Zero / The Site.
Tom is a Navy veteran and a respected teacher in dentistry and Michael an
actor-writer. Until recently both called New York City home so they have
been deeply affected by the loss of a place they knew and loved.
TOM’S THOUGHTS
“As moving as ground zero was to me and make no mistake you can not visit
this hallowed ground without weeping I was even more overcome by visiting
Battalion 7, Engine 3, Ladder 12, the fire station around the corner from
where I used to live.”
Indeed. This Battalion lost more men in the 9/11 battle than any other
engine house in the five burros.
MICHAEL ADDED:
“I spoke with a girl I know who lives near The Trade Center and she said
something to the effect that the biggest difference now is that there is
sunlight in the neighborhood. It was just a remark,” he went on, “not
meant to be profound or ironic.”
Well, Michael, sometimes the most offhand comments are the most profound,
ironic and in this case hopeful words.
Michael Cline, second from left, with members of New York Engine Co.#3
that lost nearly a third of its force. Photo by Tom Truhe
A Little Sunlight
A little sunlight
where there has been none,
a bit more understanding
when some is needed.
A hand, an arm, a touch
none of these are much
but they are all and more
to the dark place
the misunderstood
and the hand and arm
that needs the like touch
never had, or long missed.
RM 12/11/2001 12:10 AM Previously unpublished
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