Since I was in the actual city when the s*@t went down, I’m still sort of thinking of September 11 in my mind as “The day I went off to work on the bus, and then stuff starting blowing up” day. I will say, though, that several awesome things happened in and around the time of 9/11, once we came out from under the bed and stopped screaming at the top of our lungs. Actually, one of the things I remember the most vividly is that I was running across town to try to get away from the downtown area and get home, and for some reason I stopped to buy and eat a donut. I guess I figured that if the whole city was going to blow up and we were all going to die in the riot that follows, um, I wanted a donut. So I got one. I just think it’s funny that this is what I remember. I also remember a lot of great camaraderie among New Yorkers, and how everybody was essentially helping each other cope, and we were all talking about the same thing for days and days after, like one big “Naked Lunch” moment. Oh, and FEMA bought us all air filters and vacuums, and everybody seemed a little nicer and more fragile, and less people honked their horns. So, in a way, it was an interesting thing to experience first hand, and it changed your perspective forever, I guess.
Which leads me to my next topic: our darling dog Max Baxter, who we got right after 9/11. This dog is actually a good reminder of 9/11, because as it turned out, that event was the reason we were like “who CARES if our building doesn’t allow dogs? Downtown is on FIRE, life is too short, we’ve always wanted a dog, and now we’re getting one.”
So, really, 9/11 is the reason our dog is alive right now. Because right after that, we went to the pound and rescued him and he’s been a great addition to our lives ever since. I wonder where he came to live with us, but then I don’t, really—because I can’t imagine our lives without him.
So, happy 9/11, or as we like to call it, happy “screw it….we’re getting a dog” day. Here are some more pictures of Baxter to cheer you up in case you're in a 9/11 funk.
Finally, a very happy birthday to Gibson Frazier.
