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putting the 'personal' in website

putting the "personal" in website

Not to beat a dead horse, but anyone who construes anything I write about September 11 as flag-waving, jingoistic or overly patriotic has not been reading this website very long.

Today's post and any posts regarding that day that follow it are not meant as a "one nation come together" thing.

I, for one, am not happy with some turn of events in the past year. I am not happy with the current policital situation. I am not happy with the masses of organzations, individuals and elected officials who want to turn the day into a political rally or national holiday.

I just want to pay homage to those who lost their lives.

I just want to show people a glimpse of those who I knew who died that day.

I just want say what has been in my heart and on my mind since that day.

This is not about America, this is about me.

It's not about patriotism, it's about mourning.

I don't need a memorial service to remind me of that day. I don't need a commercial-filled special program on the television. I don't need a specially written song, a poem, a movie, a reenactment, a sculpture, a newscaster, a baseball player, a head of state or a website to remind me.

I certainly do not need a commemorative coin or plaque or CD to help keep the day in my memory.

I am going to spend that day far away from any television or radio or newspaper. I don't need the media telling me how or where to mourn or grieve.

For those of you who thought that's what the previous two posts were about, you are mistaken.

This is my website and it's all about me. Nothing more, nothing less. Me.

Posted by on September 1, 2002 01:55 PM |

Comments

preach on sister

Posted by: Edgar | September 1, 2002 02:04 PM

Were a man month after month for a hundred years to offer sacrifices by the thousands, and were he to pay homage even for a moment to one who is self-governed, that homage is superior to the sacrifices of a hundred years.

-Dhammapada, Wisdom of The Buddha, Canto 8:106

Posted by: jhames | September 1, 2002 03:46 PM

if we didn't want to hear about you, we wouldn't be here. vent. we love you. i had a 9-11 nightmare two nights ago - the first one i can recall - and was too chicken to write about it, so good for you.

Posted by: redsugar | September 1, 2002 03:47 PM

michele, this is your blog and you can say whatever you want. people can disagree with you but you can delete them ;)

Posted by: kat | September 1, 2002 05:00 PM

Cynic that I am, I cannot help but wonder if there is a Machiavellian purpose behind the attempt to force people to relive the attack--and get even by kicking butt. Let's see how the Shrub's desire to be a real-war president against a tangible possibly-enemy plays out.

Posted by: sue | September 1, 2002 05:09 PM

whoops, I just commented on your previous post something like what you said in this post :D

Posted by: mouse | September 1, 2002 05:16 PM

whoops, I just commented on your previous post something like what you said in this post :D

Posted by: mouse | September 1, 2002 05:16 PM

Ack! Double commented!

Posted by: mouse | September 1, 2002 05:16 PM

i'm glad you're you. i'm glad that you write what you write. i like it here.
mwah

Posted by: ratty | September 1, 2002 10:38 PM

some people just don't get it.

Posted by: Billy | September 1, 2002 10:53 PM

Michele, I'm a Canadian, so to me, 9/11 is not about my country being attacked, but it is a story of human suffering caused by human evil.

A friend of mine posted about her experience of Tiananmen Square years ago--she was in China at the time--and I was deeply moved. I was upset when Princess Diana was killed; I felt the world had lost one of its champions. And September 11 was one more example of how sometimes good people die for dreadful reasons.

Sometimes grief is closer to home, as when the first baby of two of my friends died in the womb three days before birth. But grief is grief, and it is honest and a sign that we have not lost our compassion.

Not only do I think you have the right to post whatever you want on your own blog, but I greatly respect you for admitting that you are mourning. Anyone who can't take their hat off in the face of death and grief devalues their own life.

So keep posting, and...be strong. Grieve for those who have died and celebrate that you live. You are doing the right thing.

Posted by: Laura | September 1, 2002 10:59 PM

For me, this is about context. Part of my recollections about the personal level of the impact of 9-11 came from reading this web log. Michele, you've been a real barometer for me in some ways, both in the depth of the anger and pain you've put here, and the joy you've carved out of life in spite of it. Don't ever stop being whatever it is you be.

As for others, 9-11 means so many things, especially with a year of hindsight. For some it's a matter of how close you were, for others, it's nationality. For some it's about some initial personal fear followed by aggravation at travel inconveniences. For some it's been a battle of previous beliefs and this new data, and with time, the knee jerk reflexes return to many. For most, it's a matter of how large a piece of your heart was torn out 9-11, and how easily that wound wells back up.

As we reach September, for many of us, it feels really raw again. And as Michele has chosen to ignore the media onslaught on that day, I would suggest those who visit this web log can follow the same policy: if you don't like it, don't look at it.

As for me, I'll be back daily.

Posted by: PhotoDude | September 2, 2002 12:01 AM

Michele, you speak words that often seem to come from my own heart. Please don't stop. Rant, rave, cry, laugh...I enjoy every word.

Posted by: Suze | September 2, 2002 12:22 AM

I know you don't need it, but you have my support (that, and 50-cents, might get you a cuppa coffee).

Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?

Posted by: Solonor | September 2, 2002 12:39 AM

Amen, Edgar.

Posted by: Laura | September 2, 2002 04:49 AM

I love you, Michele.
And you're getting a cd anyway. ;D

Posted by: Jessica | September 2, 2002 10:40 PM

While I read your site before that day last year, 9/11 was a turning point. I honestly remember checking in every few hours. I would constantly cry when I read it. While the media was beating me over and over with the same photos, YOU brought me to the reality of what it was like THERE.

I have been thankful for that for a long time. It may sound odd, but it is honest and true. While this site is about you, you helped me that day and the weeks that followed in ways that I will never even attempt to put in to words. Thank you.

Posted by: Christine | September 3, 2002 11:25 PM