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What the family!  This is a rare sighting of the 6 members of my family together in one location at the same time.  Taken a zillion years ago – at my parents condo in Milford, Connecticut.  I believe – without proper validation – that this picture was taken at my parents 25th wedding anniversary party.  (Either that, or a Christmas party with the neighbors, but the clothing lends itself to a more June timeline.)

You can see we are all in fine “spirits”…looking so 1983.  God. 

A few things have changed in the 27 years since…mom has passed, dad has remarried and the rest of us are alot grayer.  But hey, we’re still standing. 

Blood.  Family.  Forever.

The day is burned in our memories for those of us who were here in New York City.  Making our way to work on that September morning.  Blue skies, nice temperature…nothing unusual.

Until the unbelievable happened.

I heard people talking about a plane hitting the World Trade Towers….an accident surely.  I went into my office and watched it unfold on television.  My heart pounded.  I paced back and forth, not believing what I was seeing and hearing.  We were a city in shock.

I left my building in midtown and although there were the usual city sounds – peppered with emergency vehicle sirens – it felt oddly silent….as if I had water in my ears…muffled, incoherent.  I managed to get out of the city, as so many others, fleeing any way we could.  We were all so very scared.

We know the facts – and have heard them repeatedly over the years – so I don’t need to rehash them here.  Except for the numbers.

I found this information – from 2002, one year after the attack – so some of the numbers have obviously changed – but the overall statistics are heart stopping and worth remembering:

The initial numbers are indelible: 8:46 a.m. and 9:02 a.m. Time the burning towers stood: 56 minutes and 102 minutes. Time they took to fall: 12 seconds. From there, they ripple out.

•Total number killed in attacks (official figure as of 9/5/02): 2,819

•Number of firefighters and paramedics killed: 343

•Number of NYPD officers: 23

•Number of Port Authority police officers: 37

•Number of WTC companies that lost people: 60

•Number of employees who died in Tower One: 1,402

•Number of employees who died in Tower Two: 614

•Number of employees lost at Cantor Fitzgerald: 658

•Number of U.S. troops killed in Operation Enduring Freedom: 22

•Number of nations whose citizens were killed in attacks: 115

•Ratio of men to women who died: 3:1

•Age of the greatest number who died: between 35 and 39

•Bodies found “intact”: 289

•Body parts found: 19,858

•Number of families who got no remains: 1,717

•Estimated units of blood donated to the New York Blood Center: 36,000

•Total units of donated blood actually used: 258

•Number of people who lost a spouse or partner in the attacks: 1,609

•Estimated number of children who lost a parent: 3,051

•Percentage of Americans who knew someone hurt or killed in the attacks: 20

•FDNY retirements, January–July 2001: 274

•FDNY retirements, January–July 2002: 661

•Number of firefighters on leave for respiratory problems by January 2002: 300

•Number of funerals attended by Rudy Giuliani in 2001: 200

•Number of FDNY vehicles destroyed: 98

•Tons of debris removed from site: 1,506,124

•Days fires continued to burn after the attack: 99

•Jobs lost in New York owing to the attacks: 146,100

•Days the New York Stock Exchange was closed: 6

•Point drop in the Dow Jones industrial average when the NYSE reopened: 684.81

•Days after 9/11 that the U.S. began bombing Afghanistan: 26

•Total number of hate crimes reported to the Council on American-Islamic Relations nationwide since 9/11: 1,714

•Economic loss to New York in month following the attacks: $105 billion

•Estimated cost of cleanup: $600 million

•Total FEMA money spent on the emergency: $970 million

•Estimated amount donated to 9/11 charities: $1.4 billion

•Estimated amount of insurance paid worldwide related to 9/11: $40.2 billion

•Estimated amount of money needed to overhaul lower-Manhattan subways: $7.5 billion

•Amount of money recently granted by U.S. government to overhaul lower-Manhattan subways: $4.55 billion

•Estimated amount of money raised for funds dedicated to NYPD and FDNY families: $500 million

•Percentage of total charity money raised going to FDNY and NYPD families: 25

•Average benefit already received by each FDNY and NYPD widow: $1 million

•Percentage increase in law-school applications from 2001 to 2002: 17.9

•Percentage increase in Peace Corps applications from 2001 to 2002: 40

•Percentage increase in CIA applications from 2001 to 2002: 50

•Number of songs Clear Channel Radio considered “inappropriate” to play after 9/11: 150

•Number of mentions of 9/11 at the Oscars: 26

•Apartments in lower Manhattan eligible for asbestos cleanup: 30,000

•Number of apartments whose residents have requested cleanup and testing: 4,110

•Number of Americans who changed their 2001 holiday-travel plans from plane to train or car: 1.4 million

•Estimated number of New Yorkers suffering from post-traumatic-stress disorder as a result of 9/11: 422,000

I’m not big on endings…but getting in and getting out is a different story.

My friend Sheila was laughing about an expression I’ve used over the years….how I want to get in and out (of somewhere.)  I asked her if she could recall where it first originated, and she thinks it was in reference to auditions.  That angst…of getting there, trying to get seen, doing the audition and getting the hell outta there!

And it makes sense.  Nobody wants to prolong the agony of nerve wracking times – going to the dentist, a job interview, a move.  We want those times to be over…done…finito.  It’s not the same as wishing your life away, I see it more as wishing a few moments away here and there…nothing wrong with that.

Sheila and I applied this “theory” to the gym – the great feeling that comes across when your workout is OVER.  When that task is done and checked off the list.  It’s so hard to get through those doors sometimes, but walking out of a gym (or exercise facility) is endorphin heaven.

 There’s something to be said for brevity….get in, get out! 

Be – don’t try to become.  Within these two words, be and becoming, your whole life is contained.  (Being is enlightenment, becoming is ignorance.)

My friend passed this Buddhist quote by me today (by Osho) after reading one of my blogs.  (Cool that anything I say could possibly remind someone of a Buddhist ideal.)  And I love it and wanted to share it.

Everyone has their own interpretations of quotes and principles – none more correct than the other, as each is personal.  So to me, this idea is about the simplicity of being human.  That we are, by our very nature, good and whole without having to “become” something.  That we all should spend more time just “being” – that which we are…and finding peace within that. 

But I also think that becoming is part of the circle…each day we are becoming more enlightened, growing into the people we want to be.  Nothing wrong with that in my book.  I can’t help but use the reference of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly…naturally…as it was meant to.  Moving from one form to another.  Our life is contained within that arc – being who we are and becoming what we are meant to.

I sent my friend back a favorite “buddhist” quote of mine – “Do or do not.  There is no try.” – Yoda.
Okay, yes, I love Yoda, the tiny old sage from Star Wars fame.  He spouted the wisdom of the ages to masses of movie goers.  He taught everyday people that there was something bigger than us all…that we must believe in ourselves.  I love this quote because although we all know that failure is a part of our existence,  we must erase that notion from our minds in order to succeed.  When our internal voice say’s, “Ok, I’ll try” there is doubt seeping in.  Embracing confidence and belief that we can do anything we set our minds to, sows the seeds for growth and success.

Spiritual leaders and a little green puppet….who knew.