you are alive

"you are alive". lori and i bought a print of a photo with these words spray paint scrawled on an nyc wall. the prints for sale were all gathered, post september 11th, and the sales were a fund raiser for relief efforts. we had only been dating for 4 months, and while we were already pretty in love we couldn't have predicted then what a great future was in store for us.

on the 10 year anniversary of september 11th i have found it hard to decide how the event impacted my life. after all, as close as i was to the tragedy (i could see the second tower fall from my vantage point on 5th avenue and smell them burning for weeks), i was "still alive." we've started a family and i've been able to find success as an architect in new york city. my life couldn't be fuller, busier, or better. so looking back on the last 10 years it is hard to say how september 11th has changed my life.

i've read the commemorative journalism published this week - so many memories, some despite the infamous slogan, i had forgotten. i wonder along with some of the more intellectual musings if we are living in a post ironic state, how was being funny changed by such an event?

and then tonight i listened to a story corps collection, "we remember," recording stories of those lost in the attack on the world trade center. and i cried, which i haven't done too much of in the wake of the tragedy then or now. it's taken ten years passage for the gravity of all those lost and their legacies halted to understand the benefits (privilege?) of being alive.

and it is with that that i feel true sadness for the lost, their families, and the memories they were not able to create these past ten years. i'll be thinking of all of my friends and loved ones tomorrow...nothing like a strong reminder like this anniversary to never take a day of life for granted.