My Flickering Pandemic Memories
Memories of the pandemic are slipping away. Better write them down before they’re gone.
What do I remember about 9/11?
I recall little snippets, mostly. I remember watching the second plane hit the tower on a little portable TV on the receptionist’s desk at work, and the sinking feeling of certainty — this was no accident — that came with the images. I remember watching the towers collapse on that same TV, a reality I hadn’t thought possible until the moment it happened. I remember the days after, the constant drumbeat of news — there was nothing else on TV for a while. I remember George Bush and his bullhorn on the rubble. I remember being told — and believing — that this was just the first of many future devastating attacks, that we would live in a new age of terror.
I didn’t live close to New York at the time and didn’t know anybody who was killed in the attacks, but even so, 9/11 was a moment where the ground of history shifted beneath me. I had believed that things were one way, that there was one set of possibilities — but another set of facts turned out to be true. Many more things were possible than I had understood.
Now, I teach about 9/11 to my history students. They have lived their whole lives in the world after 9/11. They are as far removed…
