Looking Back

I ran to the roof and snapped this picture a few weeks ago, before Labor Day, trying to quickly capture late August skies before the moment passed.

For two years now, this has been my view, and in retrospect I wished I snapped a picture daily to show a time lapse of how dramatically different the sky looks during the seasons, the range of activity in the harbor, and moving or still waters. The only constant is that gap in the sky, that I always see.

The 10 year anniversary of September 11th has triggered many emotions and memories, and so many things I personally forgot. It's also been strange to think about being back in New York, part two, the city I left partially due to not really wanting to live here anymore after the attacks.

Two of my favorite pieces, is the New York Magazine feature The Encyclopedia of 9/11 - wide and encompassing in its scope - which you can read by clicking here. The other is the 9/11 Diaries shared by my friend Andy from Fortune as he posted entries from the Street Life blog reflecting the hours and days after the September 11, 2011 tragedy, especially through the lens of how things impacted the business world. I had forgotten things like how exciting it was when the stock market opened again, and when sports resumed. Markers that life would go on after all. Please click here to read his entries.

In addition to remembering what it was like living here then, in the days and months after the attack -- how the air smelled as the buildings burned until after Thanksgiving, fear and sadness everywhere, the bars jam packed with people wanting to connect (and dull their pain), the Mayor encouraging us to shop -- I had almost forgotten who we were then: Softer, humble, compassionate, patient, giving, caring, wanting to serve.

The irony of how we become better people, after we're a bit broken.