02 February, 2017
“I Got A Phone Call That Morning!
Hi JoJo….it’s a really nice afternoon here in Vegas with our current temperature above normal at 66 degrees. I imagine that you’d appreciate that in New York as I’ve just seen that you’re enjoying (okay, maybe not “enjoying” [smile]) a chilly 39 degree day at this point in time!!
I’ve got guys up on my garage roof putting the finishing touches on the repair work that they’ve been doing over the past two weeks, and I thought I’d pass some time by knocking out another “Chronicle”. I perused my photos of the pieces in my collection, and figured that one of these would jump out at me, and provide the inspiration for an installment of a few hundred words that might make for interesting reading.
It would be quite easy for me to write about this piece (and its’ physical characteristics), because it’s one of the most recognizably iconic skyline images in the world. However….like some of the other historic events our generation has emblazoned in their memories, this event has (and forever will) initiate numerous conversations that begin with the question, “Where were you when you heard about…??”
Today’s title came to me as I stopped at this piece, and remembered how I learned of the day that life in our country and (though it might be considered presumptuous), the entire world changed forever!! I can’t remember exactly where I came upon this piece. I believe that I was in one of the many antique malls that I like to spend time in on any given afternoon. (smile) I seem to want to remember that I may have been given this piece by Rob. It’s also possible that I received it as a gift from a friend….and if that’s the case, I’m truly sorry that I cannot give them credit for giving it to me. (sigh)
I remember too JoJo, that it was at the restaurant on the 110th floor of one of the towers that you, a few other members of our family, and I celebrated your 18th birthday enjoying a really nice dinner at “Windows on the World” in 1991.
I never told you then, but I remember thinking that this is it….my little girl’s not a little girl anymore!! Gee whiz…wasn’t it only a moment ago she turned sweet 16?? Was it really that long ago that I was rolling a basketball to a little 3 year old in between games on Friday nights at the gym?? Where did the time go for cryin’ out loud?? When did that little sweetheart morph into this grown up look-alike version of that young lady??
Move forward….a decade later. It’s a little after 6:00AM in Los Angeles, CA. My phone rings….it’s you!! I had just spoken to you only 4 days ago. We’d had our “Happy Birthday Dad” conversation, so I’m definitely surprised to hear your voice. Of course I’m wondering what you could possibly be calling me about at this time of morning. Are you okay, have you been in some kind of auto accident….are you in the hospital?? Has any member of the family been in an accident….or died??
After you’ve assured me that you’re fine you tell me to turn on the TV. I could not believe what I was seeing!! I thought (like many I’m sure) is this some TV show depicting the twin towers being destroyed?? I thought WOW….this is like the movie “The Towering Inferno!” (great film by the way. One of the Irwin Allen famed disaster movies of the ‘70s.) When you told me that what I was seeing was the “real deal”, I was stunned!! How could this possibly happen?? What could be the reason this plane slammed into the World Trade Center?? It had to be a major mechanical mishap of some sort. Something that the pilot(s) could not control. No pilot would do this of his (or her) own volition!! Was this plane hijacked?? Just what the hell were we witnessing??
I won’t go on about that kinds of thoughts that our whole country had as we watched this incredible tragedy unfold right before our eyes. Nor do I need to go into how completely stunned, shocked, angered, puzzled, (and so on) we all became as we witnessed a second plane hitting the other tower. Then we learned of the Pentagon, and the plane that went down in the field in Pennsylvania!! OMG….that day, the world as we knew it indeed changed forever!!
This piece only stands about 5 1/8 inches tall…BUT….the memory of the terrible events of that day….and then the incredible bravery of those who responded to the scene as quickly as they could, and the phenomenal way the country pulled together to declare that these events will not make us change our way of life….will forever stand so much taller in the hearts and minds of we Americans from that day forward!!
Yeah JoJo….I may be sounding a bit like an old fashioned, patriotic, “uncool” Black American and as such I will only speak for myself. The “Twin Towers” and “The World Trade Center” may have started out as a couple of really nice office buildings for sure. But they became symbolic examples of what Americans can do when they’re faced with intensely catastrophic, occurrences, be they “natural or man-made” in their origin(s)!!
Your phone call to me that morning awakened me to witness a terrible event. An event that was to become as much a piece of “where were you when….” history for me as the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. I was an 8th grader at that time, and we heard about it during our lunch hour. Then there was the explosion of the Space Shuttle in 1986 killing 7 of our brave astronauts. I was at work in the GF Corporate Design Center that day, and we watched it on TV then too.
However….it also awakened me to the realization that I would (sadly) be having one last glimpse of a place that represented one of the fondest memories (for me) of your “rite of passage” (if you will). The rite of passage that had me (and the rest of our family) see you turn from a 17 year old high school senior….to an 18 year old “young woman”, ready to assume the future “roles and responsibilities” that society will expect you to fulfill!!
Jodie….I will never forget what a joy it was watching you grow up. I will never forget the Twin Towers of The World Trade Center, and I will never, ever forget September 11, 2001….because “I Got A Phone Call That Morning!!”
The Crystal Chronicles 