I tried really hard to have a very eventful run. All the ingredients were there. It was Sept 11, 2011, the ten year anniversary. So far I've been running the streets in order, but it only seemed right to go jog near the WTC on this day. I read about a display called Flags of Honor, 3,000 flags flying in Battery Park, the perfect location for "a moment". I put on a sad play list. I had everything set up to produce magic. The run was nice, but the moment I was looking for didn't appear. I had nothing magical to blog about. :(
So far all of my posts have been specifically about my time jogging (which sounds much better than the original wording of, "my posts have been specifically about my runs"). But later that night, well after my run, I finally had a moment. So where does this blog start? Where does it end? This blog isn't about my life, but how can it not be? My life experiences influence my thoughts and this blog is definitely about my thoughts. So I'm going to venture out past my run today, I hope that's ok.
During my ran I started to think about people, just the shear number of people in NYC. The number of people effected by 9/11. The number of people blocking my way while I'm trying to run. The variety of people. How different we all are. How similar we all are. Later I was waiting for the subway and the cover of people magazine caught my eye.
The cover story was about the children who were born after their fathers had died on 9/11. I had to buy the magazine and read the article. The front image just grabbed hold of my heart and wouldn't let go. I bought the magazine and got on the train headed to the Brooklyn Bridge to photograph the Tribute in Light, which is two beams of light coming from the 2 towers of the World Trade Center. On the train I started to open the magazine. As I am trying to find the article I'm already starting to tear up. I try to read the first paragraph but have to stop and pull my self together. About that time the train stops and lets more people on the train. In comes a homeless man. This is not an uncommon experience on the NYC subway. But this time it seems different to me. He is barely clothed. He has a towel on barely covering him and a shredded jacket, but there is barely enough material left to call it that. He has newspaper tied around his feet as shoes. I can't help but think about all the people that need help, him, the children of 9/11, and so many more. My heart, that was already grabbed by that article is now being squeezed, almost to the breaking point. I just wished I could help him. I decided to approach him and see if I could talk to him, offer him some kind of help. I go over to him and say, "hello, how are you?" he looks scared of me, doesn't answer me and quickly walks to the other end of the car. At the next stop he exits. I'm unable to help. I get to the bridge, with the glow of the tribute in light in the background, I pull back out the article and finish reading it. Every child's story makes me cry.
I'm not totally sure of the moral of the story. I'm not sure why I felt it was so important to share this moment with you. It meant a lot to me and hopefully touched you in some way to.
I leave you with a final thought, again in song. It's about people, the shear number, the connection, relationships, etc. It's "Another Hundred People" from Company.
Time: 7 pm
Distance: 5.61 miles
Time: 52:11
Music: sad songs play list
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