20 years ago, On September 11, 2001, I was off on painting vacation in Colorado. In the morning I finished a plein air painting of a mountain range and I went to a fish camp to use the men’s room. A man outside the men’s room said the twin towers had been hit by planes as well as the Pentagon. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
Instead of doing another painting, I returned to the hotel and turned on the news. I let the gravity of hat as happening wash over me for the rest of the day.
It was impossible to fly back home to Orlando Florida, so I ended up driving back across the country. Several times I was rattled seeing crop duster planes spraying fields in the mid west. All air traffic had been grounded because of the terrorist attack.
On this 20th memorial, Pam and I drove to the beach for some peace of mind. NPR news on the radio was playing audio for September 11, 2001 but we couldn’t listen. 2,977 people died that day and it was a day of infamy much like the attack on Pearl Harbor for my parents generation. So far, between 2020 and 2021 659,558 Americans have died from COVID-19. Will their memories ever be honored in the same way? Or will Americans deny, deflect and immediately ignore the toll from a tragedy that could have been mitigated with strong leadership and citizens who worked together to keep each other safe.