Betsy
09-11-04, 03:56 PM
Most here are not from the NYC area and so perhaps today is passing as any other. However, I wanted to take a moment here to remember those who lost their lives 3 years ago and their families in the terrorist attacks in NY, Washington, and of Flight 93 which came down in Shanksville, PA.
Even now, 3 years later, when I enter NYC and don't see those towers there, it's a constant reminder of the loss. While I was not in the city during the attacks (I wasn't able to get in for work until very early the next morning) the night before I was at the base of them and thought to myself it would be where I would take my mom for a visit when she came to see me in just a couple of short weeks. During the days immediately following 9/11 I worked at my freelance job almost non-stop and stayed in the city. The smell will never leave me and it took washing my clothes several times to get rid of it. Part of my job that week was to screen all the outgoing video for dead people and body parts to make sure they didn't make air, a policy I disagreed with then and still do. What I saw was pretty horrendous and will stay with with me forever.
It's also ironically a bit of an anniversary for Bodies Like Ours. Cheryl Chase got stranded in NYC when flights were cancelled and she, myself and then partner/girlfriend Janet Green went to Cape Cod the following weekend. It was during that time the foundation and goals of BLO were developed and laid out. The conversation that began it all revolved around how to build upon what ISNA had already done and at the time, they were quickly headed into the issue advocacy side leaving the peer advocacy/support arena unserved. We began the business side filings the following January and incorporated in March 2002. It was in January we launched the website. It looked much different then. Our non-profit status came through in July 2002. Three years later, we are still here. Things have changed some, the people have changed some, but the mission we started out with for Bodies has not.
Betsy
Even now, 3 years later, when I enter NYC and don't see those towers there, it's a constant reminder of the loss. While I was not in the city during the attacks (I wasn't able to get in for work until very early the next morning) the night before I was at the base of them and thought to myself it would be where I would take my mom for a visit when she came to see me in just a couple of short weeks. During the days immediately following 9/11 I worked at my freelance job almost non-stop and stayed in the city. The smell will never leave me and it took washing my clothes several times to get rid of it. Part of my job that week was to screen all the outgoing video for dead people and body parts to make sure they didn't make air, a policy I disagreed with then and still do. What I saw was pretty horrendous and will stay with with me forever.
It's also ironically a bit of an anniversary for Bodies Like Ours. Cheryl Chase got stranded in NYC when flights were cancelled and she, myself and then partner/girlfriend Janet Green went to Cape Cod the following weekend. It was during that time the foundation and goals of BLO were developed and laid out. The conversation that began it all revolved around how to build upon what ISNA had already done and at the time, they were quickly headed into the issue advocacy side leaving the peer advocacy/support arena unserved. We began the business side filings the following January and incorporated in March 2002. It was in January we launched the website. It looked much different then. Our non-profit status came through in July 2002. Three years later, we are still here. Things have changed some, the people have changed some, but the mission we started out with for Bodies has not.
Betsy