9.11

Joanna has been in town doing Press Advance for Bush & friends. She invited Mike & I to volunteer at the prayer service that Bush was scheduled to attend this afternoon at St. Paul's Church. We were in charge of checking in the 400+ people on the guest list. I found myself very nervous to see the families of many of the victims of 9/11. Despite living just a few close blocks to Ground Zero, I have not had that kind of face-to-face interaction with anyone so closely involved. After today, I am certain that I will never fully understand what a horrible tragedy it was, how many lives were affected... Seeing a gaping hole several times a week does not do it justice. A friend at work often remarks that unless you were there, unless you personally lost someone, you cannot even come close to understanding the magnitude of the event.

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The first gentleman I checked in was incredibly emotional & upset, so much so that he immediately yelled at me, informing me that he had lost his son in the south tower on September 11th, and that he shouldn't have had to wait in such a long line. I tried to be as patient as I could, but I was still shaken up as I spoke with him. Joanna put it best, later, when she said that just about everyone in the church today has lost someone as a result of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center & they all waited in line with him. It was hard.

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It was an incredible feeling being in that building with President & Mrs. Bush, Mayor Guiliani, Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Pataki & others. The music was beautiful, and the service was incredibly well done. A woman sitting next to me leaned over afterwards and set, "You look like you were involved in this [she did not know what a minimal contribution I in fact made]- please pass the word along that the service was perfectly well done, all of the right things were said, and we appreciate it so much." It was nice to hear that it was well received, and although it was minimal, it was nice to feel a part of it.