September 11th reading

I didn't really want to go downtown in the first place. I had to speak on a breakfast panel, but I didn't feel very well and I didn't like my outfit so much, and I briefly considered bagging it and going back to bed — I mean, since when do I get up at six forty-five? Since never, that's when. But, as so often happens, my ego prevailed, and I caught a cab down to the financial district. We didn't see much traffic heading down the FDR Drive, which made a pleasant change, and I jumped out at 55 Broad Street at 8:15 and headed upstairs for some pre-panel coffee.

And so Sarah Bunting's morning on September 11, 2001 began.

I don't normally watch news channels ad naseum and now that Super Why and Curious George rule our morning TV, I am not watching footage of this year's September 11th memorial ceremonies.

But every September 11th I seek out Sarah's first person account of what happened that day. She gives a very honest account of her actions and thoughts. And when I reread it every year, I find myself more in tune with the gravity of the events on that day, more so than I ever have watching any news show.