On 9/11, I've made this post before, so it may seem familiar.
I lived in Manhattan in New York City, four miles from where the two World Trade Center Towers stood until that fateful day, 9/11/2001, the eighteenth anniversary of which is today.
The memories of that day are etched upon my very being.
It was late morning, and both of the twin towers had gone down. I wasn't working that day, and was at home alone, but I was very worried. I didn't want to be alone, so I went to the Amsterdam Billiard Club. There was no bus or train service, and I walked a mile and a half to get there so I could be with some of my pool buddies. Most of them were in the same boat as me, wondering whether friends and relatives were alive. We stuck together and endured one of the longest days of our respective lives. Very few of us actually played pool. My two brothers, both of whom worked at the World Trade Center, occupied my thoughts.
Unbeknownst to me, my brother David was going on vacation that day to San Francisco. He flew out of Newark Airport on a 9:00 AM flight but never got as far as San Francisco on a day when all aircraft were called back to the ground. The 8:00 AM to San Francisco on the same airline out of the same gate at Newark was hijacked and flown into one of the twin towers!
My brother Johnny went to work at the World Trade Center, but nobody could reach him. I got no more than his voicemail, and then not even that, and I feared the worst. As it turns out, Johnny left his cell phone in his car, a car soon to be buried in the rubble at ground zero. Johnny himself was OK, but it wouldn't be until almost 5:00 PM that I found out.
I lost a close friend that day, a business colleague, and a few acquaintances, but I was one of the lucky ones that lost no relatives that day, and my thoughts today are with those who lost more than I.
I've always felt that the fact that the poolroom was where I wanted to be on 9/11/01 evidences how much pool, and some people I've met because of it, mean to me. Pool is so much more than what happens over the green felt. The people you encounter through pool are what make pool special, and for me, that includes the many I've had the privilege of associating with on this forum, all of whom I truly appreciate.
And so, as I shed some tears of sadness in commemoration of that tragic day, I'll also allow myself a few tears of joy, because this day always makes me think of how precious, rewarding, and uplifting the associations I've made through pool really are.
I lived in Manhattan in New York City, four miles from where the two World Trade Center Towers stood until that fateful day, 9/11/2001, the eighteenth anniversary of which is today.
The memories of that day are etched upon my very being.
It was late morning, and both of the twin towers had gone down. I wasn't working that day, and was at home alone, but I was very worried. I didn't want to be alone, so I went to the Amsterdam Billiard Club. There was no bus or train service, and I walked a mile and a half to get there so I could be with some of my pool buddies. Most of them were in the same boat as me, wondering whether friends and relatives were alive. We stuck together and endured one of the longest days of our respective lives. Very few of us actually played pool. My two brothers, both of whom worked at the World Trade Center, occupied my thoughts.
Unbeknownst to me, my brother David was going on vacation that day to San Francisco. He flew out of Newark Airport on a 9:00 AM flight but never got as far as San Francisco on a day when all aircraft were called back to the ground. The 8:00 AM to San Francisco on the same airline out of the same gate at Newark was hijacked and flown into one of the twin towers!
My brother Johnny went to work at the World Trade Center, but nobody could reach him. I got no more than his voicemail, and then not even that, and I feared the worst. As it turns out, Johnny left his cell phone in his car, a car soon to be buried in the rubble at ground zero. Johnny himself was OK, but it wouldn't be until almost 5:00 PM that I found out.
I lost a close friend that day, a business colleague, and a few acquaintances, but I was one of the lucky ones that lost no relatives that day, and my thoughts today are with those who lost more than I.
I've always felt that the fact that the poolroom was where I wanted to be on 9/11/01 evidences how much pool, and some people I've met because of it, mean to me. Pool is so much more than what happens over the green felt. The people you encounter through pool are what make pool special, and for me, that includes the many I've had the privilege of associating with on this forum, all of whom I truly appreciate.
And so, as I shed some tears of sadness in commemoration of that tragic day, I'll also allow myself a few tears of joy, because this day always makes me think of how precious, rewarding, and uplifting the associations I've made through pool really are.