5 Years later

In about 2 hours or so as I type this it will be officially five years since the world as we knew it ended. In 2001 I was in school at B.M.C.C. which was about 4 blocks from the Twin Towers. The Towers were always standing over the school and they were really a beautiful sight to see so close. As a New Yorker you took for granted their place in the skyline. From The Brooklyn Bridge there they were. Standing tall in the background. A more perfect skyline could not be painted or even invisioned. On 9/11 our city was forever changed by those bastards who attacked us. In the years since 9/11 we have fought a war on terror that you can hardly call a war. At this point it's more of a squirmish then a war.

I remember when President Bush was on the smoldering pile and he said WE WILL FIND THE PEOPLE BEHIND THIS. Well five years later Usama Bin Laden is still "on the run". Al-Zawahri is releasing videos on a regular basis. Mullah Omar is hiding somewhere in the mountains of Afghanistan or Pakistan as The Taliban reform and grow stronger and reclaim much of the land that we took from them when we drove them out of power.

It's five years later and what do we have to show for it? Vice President Cheney says we've done a hell of a job. No attacks in five years so that's gotta count for something. Well it doesn't count for jack. The so called ring leaders sit in jail while Ground Zero becomes an election year pawn. They just released the new design for the other buildings down there and sure they look all nice and sleek but the fact remains The Freedom Tower which is supposed to be the way we American's say FUCK YOU to terror will be nothing but a testament to everything the terrorists accuse of us of doing. Greed and political favors are what will be built where the Towers stood.

As it is they say most people simply don't care anymore about 9/11. Hell some people are convinced Saddam Hussien was involved. I often wonder what its gonna be like 30, 40, 50 years from now when I'm in my 70's and God willing I have some Grand children. What will be the tale then? Will it be like Pearl Harbor and some old Fireman laying a wreath at the site?

Five years later and it all still feels the same. Five years from now who knows how it will feel. Five years from now 9/11 could simply be an after thought to a day that is worse then anyone can begin to imagine. Five years gone by and it's five years I wish I could have back. Alot of us wish we could have these five years back. If 9/11 taught me anything it's that nothing is guarenteed and everyday truly is a blessing because there is no guarentee that tomorrow will come.

To all those that died you can only hope they found peace after all that horror and to all those that lost someone they know and love you can only hope that one day they will meet that person again. Without faith there's not much to hope for.

I want to thank anyone who made it this far. Yeah it was a rambling essay of sorts but can anyone honestly say on 9/11 you could put together a string of thoughts that made sense? Nothing about that day from the planes to the collapse to everything that has happened since makes sense.

So yeah thanks for reading and here's to hoping 9/11 is the only day we have to remember when we're all old men and women.

For my "friends" at the Andrewbulous board

I was going to actually bite the bullet and register over at your little message board but you guys disabled registration so I'll just do it here since you love reading this blog.

Bix wants to know what's the yellow under my eyes.

Well Bix I wouldn't know what it is because I don't have any. You people are making fun of me with pictures I took a couple years ago. You like to joke that I have some sort of liver problem. I can tell you now that despite being a lard ass I am in perfect physical health.

No liver problems, no kidney problems, no heart problems, no cholesterol, no nothing.

Someone suggested I drink Mountain Dew. Granted I like drinking soda but I tend to stick to caffine free Coke or Pepsi. I can't remember the last time I drank Mountain Dew. It might have been a year ago but I'm not to sure about that.

So yeah sorry to dissapoint you guys.

It's been a year all ready

It was a year ago yesterday that my Uncle Johnny died downstairs from a massive heart attack (he probably also had cancer but didn't tell anyone). I remember my brother frantically coming to get me telling me to go downstairs because they think Uncle Johnny had a heart attack.

He was in his bed and not breathing or anything so we called 911 and God bless the NYC EMT's because they always get here with in 5 mins. Naturally they thought it was for my other uncle since they had been here to many times to count for him but we were like it's other one so they drag him out onto the floor of my Aunt's room and go to work on him. I had always said I didn't want to be in the house when the day came but it was the final hurdle of sorts to cross. They worked on him for an hour but it was to no avail and he was declared dead around 3:50 I think.

When ever you call for an ambulance, the police come by depending on the situation and it was a bit weird hearing someone upstairs saying is anyone home. I said we're down here and down walks a cop and his partner as the EMT's are still inside. After a couple mins they filled out some paperwork that's necessary for when anyone dies (basically the toe tag info) and basically I identified the body so all the info they wrote down was from me. I guess they listed me as the next of kin. It was weird but it's paperwork and the city is very preticular about that.

I remember the cop staying around for a couple of hours because someone had to be with the body till it was claimed by the funeral home. We went around the block to Daniel George but they were out of business at that point (google Daniel George Body Snatchers for more info) so we went to the Miraglia Funeral Home a few blocks away next to the train station. I always passed it but never went in it. As far as I know it's still family owned so it's a nice Italian funeral parlor. We made some preliminary arrangements and then walked back home and it's weird when you come back home and there's a body just laying there.

I remember thinking in the back of my mind the body starts some natural processes after death so the longer he's there it wouldn't be good. I remember my Uncle George saying when one of my cousins died in the 80's it took them almost 8 hours to get the body out of the house. It was about 4 or so for Uncle Johnny. They eventually came and brought the gurney and put him in the bag and wheeled him out.

We had a wait almost a week for the wake and funeral since there was the weekend and I think a jewish holiday and the cemetaries were closed. He's buried out in New Jersey at the same place my Uncle Tommy is. We thought we could get the grave next to him which would of been funny if they had to spend eternity next to each other since they didn't preticularly like each other. But he ended up in a grave across the road so to speak. I remember after the service was over and everyone was leaving the coffin was by itself under the tent they have and as we drove by I just thought it was sad and almost a statement on our family. They don't give a shit till it's to late and once your gone they don't bother with you.

I hope there is something beyond this world and He's found peace because his last months weren't to pleasant.

Ah well thanks with putting up with me doing some remembering. I needed to kick start the writing portion of my brain and a quick blog works wonders.