We are stronger than you think

The news from Boston sickens me.  Many of the runners lost their legs in the explosions.  I can’t help but think back to 9/11, which I don’t talk about much.

My father watched the plane fly into the building from his office window.  He worked near Union Square.  I was in New Jersey with my mom, getting ready to go to the lawyer’s office.  My father was dying of cancer and that was the day my mother was going to write the will.

Everything changed.  My friend’s cousin died.  She was on the 101st floor of Tower 2.  It was one week before her wedding day.  The subway shut down; my father couldn’t get home.  I frantically called all my actor friends to make sure they were safe.

The plane from Los Angeles to Newark was the same plane I rode a week earlier.  It was the same plane I was supposed to fly home on.  A new fear gripped me.  Cancer was horrible, but at least I understood it.  Terrorism I did not.

A few days later we drove my father to Brooklyn to see his doctor.  The plumes of gray smoke clung to the sky and a burning smell was in the air.  We held our breath going into the tunnel.  I met my friend, Liz, later in the week.  There were posters everywhere.

Have you seen my mother?

Have you seen my husband, Miguel?

Missing:  Age 25, blonde hair, blue eyes.

Soldiers with rifles walked the streets.  I was terrified, as was planned by the sick terrorists who carried out the plot.  They want to disrupt life.  They want to wreak havoc.

Then there was the anthrax.  We didn’t get mail for two weeks because the mail post office had been contaminated and two people died.  When we did get the mail it was wrapped in a plastic bag.  We decided to just throw the bag away in the trash outside and call the companies directly to pay the bills.

When it was time to go home I did not want to fly on the plane.  My mother said I had to or the terrorists would win.  Easy for her to say, I was the one getting on the plane. 

But I got on anyway, because f*** the terrorists.  The flight was almost empty.  A soldier was on the plane with us.  I looked at everyone with distrust.  When we landed in LA everyone started clapping and tears fell down our faces.

The Boston bombings will forever change how marathons are run.  But it will not stop us from running.  We are stronger than the deranged people who did this.  Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims.  This will be my only post for today out of respect for the victims.

Lisa

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