Since September 11, sometimes I feel like a dead woman walking, other times like a tough warrior. There hasn’t been a day in this year that I haven’t thought about the events of 9/11. But I know I’m committed to a life in New York and love the city more than ever. That seems to be the consensus of the people I talked to about this tragic anniversary—some of the city’s movers and shakers whose brains and talent make New York the artistic, entertainment, and media capital of the world. Their words speak for us all.
Music industry legend Clive Davis told The Sheet, “September 11 forever changed everyone’s life, including mine. No one can plan more than a day at a time, so we must enjoy life and truly savor each day and its enrichment. I never for a minute thought of leaving New York. The city to me has always represented the center of life and contemporary society. Whatever its faults, at its core it represents the American dream, fighting for everyone the battles against racial and ethnic prejudices, and the survival of culture over the trivialization and mechanization of the arts. We really have to stay at the front to protect all our basic values.”
There’s no doubt 9/11 proved that New Yorkers are on the frontline, standing in unity. “I feel very protective of New York,” says Eileen Fulton, star of the soap As the World Turns. “We have everything we could possibly want here and should be very grateful for it.” Many of us briefly wrestled with the notion of leaving our city, but as actor Alec Baldwin puts it, “Even though I have conflicting feelings about living in New York, I’d rather die here than live to be 100 anywhere else in the world.”
September 11 turned New Yorkers into warriors with heart. As NBC’s Today Show’s entertainment correspondent Jill Rappaport told me, “Since 9/11, everything I’ve always loved I love and appreciate even more now. That day changed how I value my life and do things now. I don’t waste time and I don’t sweat the small stuff.” For those New Yorkers lucky enough to be Hamptonites as well, Rappaport says it perfectly: “I used to drive up and just get such a high being at my home in the Hamptons. But it’s taken on a whole new meaning, because the beauty is so much more intensified and the pleasure is just so much more delicious—I realize how blessed I am to have this after what we’ve all experienced. Unfortunately, many people aren’t in that situation and wake up every day to the horror of the tragedy.”
It takes art to express—and help us heal from—such horror, and recently Bruce Springsteen commemorated 9/11 with his instant classic album The Rising. Through the eyes of survivors and victims, he speaks for their pain—and the pain we share with them. In “You’re Missing,” he sings from a 9/11 widow’s viewpoint: “Pictures on the nightstand,/TV’s on in the den/Your house is waiting, your house is waiting/For you to walk in/But you’re missing …”
And in “Into the Fire” he sings for both a doomed firefighter and his wife: “The sky was falling and streaked with blood/I heard you calling me, then you disappeared into dust/Up the stairs, into the fire/Up the stairs, into the fire … I need your kiss, but love and duty called you someplace higher/ Somewhere up the stairs, into the fire …”
When it comes to remembering New York’s finest and bravest, as well as every victim who gave his or her life on 9/11, the chorus of “Into the Fire” says it all: “May your strength give us strength/May your faith give us faith/May your hope give us hope/May your love give us love …”
We Must Never Forget! Now, let’s party!
Enjoy The Sheet.
Joan Jedell appears on national and local tv and radio.
Her photographs are syndicated worldwide.
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