Category: My Life
I went to the roof deck on the building. We were all just up there watching. We could see the outline of the buildings and there was more and more smoke. But suddenly, we didn’t see the outline anymore. We didn’t hear or feel anything.
The memorial site features twin waterfalls placed in the footprint where each Tower stood. Every year on their birthday, a white rose is placed in their name to honor and remember their life.
There was still ripped metal and huge piles of debris being hauled up out of the pit. And there, soaring out of the ground was the concrete pillar that remained, adorned with that iconic cross, 2 steel beams that had been discovered in the debris still joined together that became a symbol of hope and rebirth.
Behold, my fruity teapot. When I asked her where she got it, she said, “Flip it over.” A funny story for a funny teapot. Her family noticed she drank a lot of tea and started buying her cute little teapots and teacup sets. Thus, began a collection that would change over the years.
Something was off. I could feel it in my bones. I didn’t know what it was. I started having a strange, almost out-of-body experience for a few days. I couldn’t put my finger on it and I still can’t exactly describe what it felt like. But something was definitely off and I didn’t know what it was.
After hatching an escape plan, she finally mustered the courage to leave a dead-end relationship. The only problem was now she was going to be homeless overseas. Although that still sounded better than having someone control your life, you can’t stay on a work visa and live on the streets. If she didn’t find a place to live soon, her time in France might be up.
There was no bruising or blood which indicates that she was probably already deceased when she ended up in that position. That’s how my mother found her later the next afternoon.
When Heather was brought down from her room in a velvet body bag, they let my mother tell her she loves her and then she kissed her daughter goodbye one last time.
Every year, I struggle to get through these 3 days in a healthy way, and it hasn’t happened yet. Last year, I ended up completely blitzed in Tahiti. In the year after he died, the day after I placed his ashes in his grave with his family, I ended up drunk on the beach in Galveston the very next day.
On the evening of New Year’s Day in 2018, my sisters and I visited the Jardins des Tuileries, we drank vin chaud (hot wine) at Place de la Concorde, and then we strolled down a rainy Champs-Élysées under the twinkling holiday lights that glistened in the puddles on the sidewalk. The buildings were lit up with lights, everything looked like it was glowing. We reached the Arc de Triomphe at dusk and tried to take photos from across the street despite the hectic traffic in the background. The site itself was closed for the #holiday, so we planned to meet Anthea in the tunnel below.
On my first visit, we got to check off some classic New York “must dos.” We walked through Times Square and ice skated in front of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center where a couple get engaged…
A popular travel question is: Have you been there? Some people include simply flying over a state or territory as having been there. What would you say? Does it count?