(Getting to this late because I've been on the road this week and am just now catching up on everything.)
On September 11, 2001, I was working at Boston University, but it was only 3 months after I left a job working customer service for United Airlines at Logan Airport. My friends/former coworkers Jesus Sanchez and Marianne MacFarlane were on UA175, and I knew the people who worked the departure gate for the flight that morning, all of whom were utterly devastated by a sense of guilt even though there was no way they could've known what was to come. That day still haunts me, to the point where the only poem I worked on in all of 2022 was about my experience and connection to it. The poem's not online anywhere; it came out in Cream City Review, which is print-only, but I'm glad it's out in the world.
Thank you for sharing this, Michael. I know a lot of people with such direct connections to 9/11 might opt out of visiting the museum, but if you make it there (or if you have already), you'll find your friends' stories preserved in the In Memoriam exhibit. In addition to photos being projected on the walls, there were also interactive tablets where you could look up individuals.
I will get there someday. I couldn't bring myself to do it on this most recent trip, but I know their names are inscribed there and it does offer comfort.
Great read, I love the window for Astor, I have never seen that!
St. John of the Divine is a stunning church. Beautiful art and a history of important philanthropic work.
(Getting to this late because I've been on the road this week and am just now catching up on everything.)
On September 11, 2001, I was working at Boston University, but it was only 3 months after I left a job working customer service for United Airlines at Logan Airport. My friends/former coworkers Jesus Sanchez and Marianne MacFarlane were on UA175, and I knew the people who worked the departure gate for the flight that morning, all of whom were utterly devastated by a sense of guilt even though there was no way they could've known what was to come. That day still haunts me, to the point where the only poem I worked on in all of 2022 was about my experience and connection to it. The poem's not online anywhere; it came out in Cream City Review, which is print-only, but I'm glad it's out in the world.
Thank you for sharing this, Michael. I know a lot of people with such direct connections to 9/11 might opt out of visiting the museum, but if you make it there (or if you have already), you'll find your friends' stories preserved in the In Memoriam exhibit. In addition to photos being projected on the walls, there were also interactive tablets where you could look up individuals.
I will get there someday. I couldn't bring myself to do it on this most recent trip, but I know their names are inscribed there and it does offer comfort.