9/11 in the Tropics

Parguera Elk Horn coral,
c. 2001, now gone

Eight years old, I was giggling with a friend in the back seat of the Rambler when Mom suddenly stopped, turned around and slapped me, hard, across the face.

The President had just been shot.  So where were you when Kennedy visited Dallas?  I just realized that if you didn't know my age, there could be a couple of possibilities.  OK, maybe the Rambler was a tip-off, but it’s sad nevertheless.

Years later Mom answered my question:  she’d once read a man's account of being slapped by his Father the day President Lincoln was shot, to remember the event, and she couldn't think of what else to do. If I haven’t been already, I’ll surely be disowned after this, but if you knew Mom…

You’re reading this after the fact, but this story began the morning of 9/11/12, so my heart’s in it.

It was another hot day in the tropics…

Main Street, la Parguera, PR

..and I stopped in the little tienda in la Parguera, Puerto Rico, for milk and a bag of ice, my daily requirements.   As he rang it up I glanced at the TV; smoke was billowing from some city.  Filmed from the water, the narrator's on-screen name was of Mediterranean origin and the translation was in Spanish so I was clueless; I assumed it was somewhere in Israel.

“What happened?

The guy looked at this Gringa like she’d lost her mind.  “Where have you been?”

“Out snorkeling.”  There, I’ve said it.  Do you know how guilty I’ve felt all these years?

VOLANTINES, an old Spanish
word for Chiringas, or kites

He proceeded to tell me the news.  I skedaddled back out to the boat with Czar in tow and turned on the Spanish TV stations; the sights were horrifying and I was 6 hours late.  My sister works mid-town Manhattan but she was fine, other than a sprained ankle from scrambling down to the sidewalk, 37 floors below.

Now, this was following an incident which, unless you're familiar with recent Puerto Rican history, you might have missed: kicking the Navy out of Vieques.  It was a hot political topic at the time and suffice it to say that more than one potential customer left in disgust once the U.S. flag was noticed on the rack.

Ground Zero, 2005

After 9/11, I couldn't keep them in stock.

Moral?  Nothing lasts forever, I guess.  Elk horn coral; the Twin Towers; best friends.  I could get hit by a bus tomorrow.  But I’ll bet Arden remembers where SHE was that day, too.

I love New York.  Born there; proud to be from yet glad to live more quietly elsewhere; but if you’ve never visited the Big Apple, you should definitely put it on your Bucket List.