Oct

10

A September Remember

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I don’t usually quote country songs but ‘Where were you when the world stopped turning?’ And where are you now? I was four days into what was supposed to be the best year of my life. Having slaved away on a television show, writing about Angels and God, I had finally mustered the courage to quit, telling my boss I was simply done and no amount of money could keep me enslaved to television writing. In truth, everybody has their price, but this poor thirty-five-year-old had saved a hundred Grand and now it was time to write my screenplay, renovate my 1000 square foot Mediterranean Hollywood house and wait for fame. What a difference a day makes.

On the morning of September 11th…

After only four days of unemployment, I had already solidified a morning routine: Wake up, turn on NPR, start coffee, check email, walk dog, eat bagel. Writing always took place sometime after the bagel, or the second bagel, but nothing came before turning on the radio to get my morning fix of NPR. Thus, on the morning of September 11th, 2001, the first thing I heard was that a plane had flown into one of the Twin Towers. I went to the television to see one of the towers burning. The phone immediately rang and it was a friend, David Taylor, calling from Arkansas. “Are you watching this crap?” “Yeah, I Just heard. What happened?” About that time, as I am glued to the television, the second plane flew into the tower… Live… in real time. “What? Are you kidding me?”

I was really glad I didn’t have to go to work. One week later, David and I are in New York. You see, we had already planned a road trip from Arkansas to New York. We were going to see Cal Ripken play the Red Sox play at Fenway Park on his farewell tour. After the game, we had planned to “run up to the City” for the day, like we were cool. In reality, we missed the Red Sox game in lieu of a bar. The next day we slunk into New York like we were sneaking into a war zone. We got to our hotel and went to bed. The next morning, we would go to ground zero, or as close as we could get, and witness the disaster for ourselves. David went. I did not. I went to Central Park… to the Metropolitan Museum. Having been to New York several times before, it’s what I liked to do. I wanted to sit on the steps and eat a hot dog (or four), look up at the fantastic Banners that always hang down from the building, and feel like a New Yorker. I didn’t feel like a New Yorker that day. I still don’t know what I felt. Numb would have been an understatement. I only ate one hot dog.

Six years later.

I have been back in Arkansas for almost five years. After 9/11, I shelved my screenplay, sold my quaint, little Hollywood Bungalo, and returned to Arkansas to hang out with my aging parents and old friends. I bought a house in Capital View and started working with disadvantaged kids. I bought a lawn mower. I slapped mosquito’s. It’s been a fast, slow six years. Recently, it got old. Real old. I needed to get away from the social service work and laugh again.

A chance meeting with Holly Vines.

That’s about the time I ran into a Holly Vines at community Bakery. Holly was an old friend that I hadn’t seen in some time. I remembered her as the red-headed Betty-Page-meets-Barbie who knew the name of every garage band in Little Rock. She told me she had been working at Arkansas Flag and Banner, that the place resembled a sitcom, and that, overall, she was very happy to work there. I was jealous. When I told her it sounded fun. She said they needed a temp to make phone calls if I was interested. I was interested.

So what does this all have to do with 9/11?

I got the job. And Arkansas Flagandbanner.com is a flag store, and web site…and it’s decorated like the Metropolitan Museum… And six years ago, two planes flew into the World Trade center and for reasons probably more personal than patriotic, I have been floundering ever since. And now I feel compelled to write. And it’s a good thing. I feel good. Maybe it’s time to move on. Not to forget. As the sound bite demands, “We will never forget.” I don’t know. Maybe, like the death of my father, 9/11 was just a big emotional bite to chew and it’s taken me six years to do it. Who knows? For now, I’m happy. Arkansas Flag and Banner is just fine. I make phone calls to clients and am writing a blog. I didn’t think I’d be writing. I’m not sure I wanted to. But the boss saw unseen value. So now, in between phone calls to customers, I will wax fantastic about the sitcom that is Arkansas Flag and Banner. I call it “Dreamland.”

Comments

2 Responses to “A September Remember”

  1. holly on October 15th, 2007 6:49 pm

    I love it that it’s Dreamland…good job ….better than a reality show!!

  2. Jakki Degg on October 18th, 2007 6:50 pm

    Hey!…Man i love reading your blog, interesting posts ! it was a great Thursday

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