Sept. 11, 2013 (ShapeShiftas) -- The sky today is the same clear blue that it was 12 years ago.
On that day, my older daughter's pre-school hadn't started yet; today she is in her senior year of high school. Today, from far-away Vermont, where I feel happy and safe, I woke with a depression I haven't suffered with for several years. I guess it's OK to take a day off to remember and to mourn.
The Lexington Ave. Armory, where posters of the missing were posted, was 2 blocks from our apartment.
I was pretty amazed that the New York Times today had virtually nothing in the paper about 9/11, except for this post, On This Day:
On Sept. 11, 2001, suicide hijackers crashed two airliners into the World Trade Center in New York, causing the 110-story twin towers to collapse. Another hijacked airliner hit the Pentagon and a fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.
We tried to buy a New York Times on 9/12/01, but they were sold out. I will never forget that day after, the empty streets, the stillness but for all the sirens, the billowing smoke, the smell. The other day I came across a Wall Street Journal from 9/12/01, yellowed and ghostly-feeling, from one of the only times I have ever bought that paper. Sort of a strange souvenier...
The sky looked like this for days after.
Today, after finally getting out of bed, I've been unable to do much but read about 9/11.
A friend posted this article about the famous image of The Falling Man, which was published all over the world the next day but then rarely seen after. Of all the images from the day, this one was deemed too horrible.
A year later, the artist Eric Fischl created a sulpture called Tumbling Woman, which was installed in Rockefeller Center. For one week. A few days after it was unveiled, it was covered up and curtained off, a subject of controversy.
Fischl was accused of being disrespectful of those who died by jumping from the doomed towers, and exploiting the tragedy for his own gain. Fischl was terribly hurt and dismayed by this reaction to his piece, and from what I read, remains so to this day.
"We watched, /disbelieving and helpless, /on that savage day. /People we love /began falling, /helpless and in disbelief." - inscription on plaque next to the sculpture when it was briefly installed in Rockefeller Center
From what I can determine, the sculpture, which was cast in an edition of five, is now either in private collections or in Fischl's hands. It is currently not on public display anywhere, still too controversial, too painful. Great art invokes great emotion and passion. I wonder how many years must pass before we can look upon this piece?
peace, Deborah