9/11

On September 11, it’s easy and understandable to hesitate in attaching any sense of importance to leisure activity in light of what happened five years ago on this day. Like every American, I remember that morning vividly. I lived in a townhouse with 5 other guys at Fairfield University. I had awoken just before the first plane hit, been sauntering around the kitchen and living room in boxer shorts and a t shirt, groggily preparing myself a bowl of serial, when I turned on the television... I called out to my roommates. I know I sat there for most of the day, surrounded by friends, in near silence, our eyes glued to the television in horrified disbelief. I didn’t go to class. No one did. We could barely even move. I didn’t even put pants on. We (my generation) were collectively devastated, blindsided, confused, angry, and scared all at once and to a degree previously unimaginable.

Unfortunately, this tragedy and this day have come to, at least chronologically, mark the beginning of the most devastating, confusing, angry, fearful, and shameful day and years of my young life. Over the course of subsequent weeks, months, and to this very day, I have mourned the losses of 9/11 as they signify the beginning of a long and seemingly unending succession of days saturated in death, devastation, calculated misfire, and manipulation.

Today, I will continue to mourn; for the Americans we lost five years ago today in a senseless tragedy and for the people the world over that we have been losing ever since, in this downward spiral of senseless tragedy man-made.