Journal entry page 2
Meg turned on the TV and I saw the twin towers smoking, on fire. Still sleepy, my mind took its time to understand the ramifications. The shock of The Pentagon attack snapped me out of my daze. I ran downstairs to fill my gumbo pot with an emergency supply of water. I turned on the faucet and deep brown water poured out- years of rust clinging inside the pipes knocked loose by some colossal underground tremor. "It's gone," Meg said, "The tower fell."
The news reporters were frantic, frenzied. They were relaying every report, every rumor that came across their wires. At this moment, they were saying that eleven planes had been hijacked.
I felt we had to act quickly. Meg wanted to go the site to see if she could help but I was preparing for the worst-an all out assault on New York. "We need to go to the grocery store and gets supplies right now." In Kobe, electricity and water were cut off instantly during the quake and fires broke out everywhere... I had no intention of being that vulnerable again. I just hoped that the stores were still open.
Outside was the most ridiculously gorgeous day. Some cool air had finally come into the city, and the skies were clear and a vibrant blue. There were many people out in the middle of the street, but they were concerned, not panicked. We walked half a block and looked south. The lone tower stood there burning. Meg was smart enough to have brought her mini-binoculars. We looked through them at the burning building and I was even more motivated to mobilize. I pulled Meg into D'Agostino, our local grocery that everyone calls Dags.
To my surprise, the store wasn't even that crowded. I stocked up on tons of canned meats and vegetables, jugs of water, batteries and toilet paper. 10 minutes later we were in the check out line when a moan went through the crowd outside the store. A man poked his head into the store and announced simply, "They're gone."
We stepped out of the store and
looked at our new smoking skyline in disbelief. It took the wind out of us, out
of everyone. Not even able to recognize the immense loss on a mental level,
everyone's spirit was crying out in pain. We felt it in our guts. It was
written all over our faces.
