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Ten Years Later...
Sep. 11th, 2011 07:02 am... and still do this day my heart freezes every time I hear an airplane's engines whine as it dips too low or it banks too sharply.
...
I've been working the overnights at a new job this past week, and just a few shifts in and it's already been one hell of a ride.
All night long, this browser tab has been purring away in the background, open and empty, waiting for me to talk about what happened so long ago, and what I've learned in the aftermath.
I'm just about to type it out. Talking about how the world changed, and how the country I love had changed, and how my perspective of how the world and I fit together have changed.
And just as I'm about to begin, an old man I've just met comes into the lobby and talks to me.
He tells me a bit about himself. He talks about being disowned for being gay. He talks about how the catholic church told his parents to "bury him". He talks about coming back from Vietnam to take care of his sick father. He tells me about being with him lover for over 40 years.
He also talks about a man he once met in Hawaii, a man he over heard tell a group of strangers in an AA meeting a very very powerful story.
By the time he finishes his story, a story within a story, he and I are in quietly wiping at tears in the corners of our eyes.
And he bids me a fond good morning and goes back to his crossword puzzle, and I go back to trying to write this entry about how angry and cynical I am.
Ten years later and words of anger die in my throat. Instead, I focus on his story of love and compassion.
I hope this day treats you all just as well.
...
I've been working the overnights at a new job this past week, and just a few shifts in and it's already been one hell of a ride.
All night long, this browser tab has been purring away in the background, open and empty, waiting for me to talk about what happened so long ago, and what I've learned in the aftermath.
I'm just about to type it out. Talking about how the world changed, and how the country I love had changed, and how my perspective of how the world and I fit together have changed.
And just as I'm about to begin, an old man I've just met comes into the lobby and talks to me.
He tells me a bit about himself. He talks about being disowned for being gay. He talks about how the catholic church told his parents to "bury him". He talks about coming back from Vietnam to take care of his sick father. He tells me about being with him lover for over 40 years.
He also talks about a man he once met in Hawaii, a man he over heard tell a group of strangers in an AA meeting a very very powerful story.
By the time he finishes his story, a story within a story, he and I are in quietly wiping at tears in the corners of our eyes.
And he bids me a fond good morning and goes back to his crossword puzzle, and I go back to trying to write this entry about how angry and cynical I am.
Ten years later and words of anger die in my throat. Instead, I focus on his story of love and compassion.
I hope this day treats you all just as well.
