9/11 Stories

Peggy

(Sent September 23, 2001)

Life is queer, you never know what you will say or do no matter how well you are trained. You also can never know what you will see or how it will catch you off guard.

We were running up and down between the roof and the apt. where the radio was. In the early minutes, even before the second plane hit there was a very brave and flustered news commentator on the radio who was describing the situation while running down Broadway. Her description was clear exact and frightening. Then it was as if she refocused, she started saying and kept saying over and over “There are shoes everywhere. The street is filled with shoes. I’ve never seen so many shoes.. People are just running and leaving their shoes behind. They are running out of their shoes..” She was so surprised and the most definable element of her speech was not fear but utter surprise and wonderment.

Like I say you never know what to expect.

We walked down to Canal today, on Greenwich we passed one of New York’s Finest (a crazy bum not a Policeman). He had two benches double lined with pairs of shoes. I can only imagine the time and patience it took for him to find, match and carry all those shoes back to the Village. Like the commentator I just couldn’t believe all the shoes! Each one from someone who got away, and that’s the wonder of it. Just makes you want to cry doesn’t it. There may not be any real happy endings but once in a while fate is postponed.

Best regards,
Peggy