Still, Its Fair To Say 9/11 Rocked Our World
Through the years I’ve pondered this time.
In 2001 I wrote this.
“It is a new world. And according to President George W. Bush its war in the 21st century. And for the life of me, I don’t know what is going to happen”.
It came to me in the strangest of ways. I was in the parking lot waiting for a bus to the Outdoor Farm Show in Woodstock last Tuesday. Ahead of me were some people talking about the Toronto airport, saying it would be shut down by the end of the day. I didn’t know what they were talking about. But something told me there was something going on.
And then my cell phone rang, and it was a family member calling from Stratford Ontario. His voice was animated as he asked if I knew what was going on. He said hijacked airplanes have hit the World Trade Centre Buildings. The Pentagon had also been hit. And in that moment my heart sank like it had never before. My generation had never had to go through anything like this and now it was here. What to do?
When I got to the Outdoor Farm Show, I learned more. The place was abuzz with the news. There was another plane, which had crashed in Pennsylvania. In my mind, it was turning into a national calamity. What would happen at the US/Canadian border? Will Toronto and Detroit be hit? Or, am I dreaming and about to wake up?
Ending my column that day, I wrote this.
On January 2, 2000, I boarded a plane in Toronto headed to Newark, New Jersey. The flight was a bit rough, and I welcomed the impending descent toward the airport. And as we descended toward the airport, the sight out the left hand side of the aircraft overwhelmed me. There it was, the New York City skyline, shimmering in the late afternoon of early winter. And the World Trade Centre Buildings were beautiful to behold. But never again, never again. It is war now. Those murdering bastards changed this world forever.
In 2003 in this column I followed up.
“But in January 2003 on a subsequent trip to Bangladesh as I descended once again to New York, I had an entirely different feeling. Looking out the window was a skyline, totally bereft of any glittering World Trade centre towers. It was like the heart had been taken out of that great city”.
“Someday, I suppose, it will all fade into our collective consciousness. But something tells me that probably won’t happen. This wound will take a long time to heal”.
In 2005 I took yet another look.
“It’s almost surreal reading that now. The realities of 2005 seem so far away from what happened on that terrible day. I was right, I had no idea of what was going to happen now. Little did I know five years later Canadian troops would be stationed in Kandahar Afghanistan, Saddam Hussein would be a footnote on history and the price of litre of gas is $1.27″.
It’s been a long time now. On September 11th, 2007 it feels almost like its September 10th, 2001. Saddam Hussein is dead, the price of gas is 98 cent/litre and Canadian troops are still in Kandahar Afghanistan. In fact there is great controversy in parts of this country in what we’re doing in Afghanistan anyway. Our government is more than gently hinting our troops will be coming home in the spring of 2009, now only a mere 15 months away.
Still, its fair to say 9/11 rocked our world. Who would have ever thought Canadians and Americans would need passports back in those days? Border crossings are no longer casual. In fact last weekend as I went from Walpole Island to Algonac Michigan, it took one hour to unload the ferry on the US side. Call it what you will. It all stems from that September day in 2001 when our world stopped.
In many ways 9/11 has all the remnants of a torrid love affair. With testosterone raging any young couple feels this “heightened passion” to always be together. However, as the pages begin to yellow over the years, the passion might still be there but it’s never at the knifepoint it once was.
Looking back I was very, very scared. If you read carefully you could tell. We all were whether you admit it or not. Shortly after that time everybody was being “spiritual” in their own way, getting back to the basics after such a close call. It would seem to me six years later much of that is forgotten. With the Canadian economy booming, its like we don’t have a worry in the world.
And about those murdering bastards? Sadly six years later there has been too much killing to go around. The hundreds of thousands killed in Afghanistan and Iraq are testament to that.
Osama still lives apparently. He even got his beard dyed. What’s that mean? Well, I dunno. However, it probably makes the target on his forehead a bit more distinct.
As the years go by, I’m sure I’ll keep looking back. Hopefully the sorry mess, which was created that day, will become a bit more palatable to live with. I want to sing “Kum Ba Ya.