Welcome to One and Done Sunday. A picture, and five links that are worth your time. Today with a couple of extra thoughts because of the date.
Superficial snapshot ten years ago: Aida tour, playing Phoenix. I lived there at the time so I got to stay at home instead of a hotel. I was packing up all my stuff to put in storage for probably forever and close out the guest house rental that was the very first place I’d ever lived all by myself.
I didn’t have a TV. I found out about the attacks when our company manager called to tell me the show was cancelled. It’s another post that I likely will never write, but there were things happening in my personal life at this time that made this tragedy seem not out of place.
The rest of the week passed in a stupor. When our run in Phoenix was over and we loaded out, planes still weren’t flying yet. Our company manager did a lot of string pulling and wrote a personal check to get us a sleeper bus that would take us to our next stop in Austin. It was Blink-182’s bus, available because they too were canceling shows, reeling from what had happened.
It was a long drive from Phoenix to Austin. We’re stagehands, so we did what we do: made each other laugh and told stories. We watched The Brady Bunch movie. We snagged a couple hours of sleep. The bus was stocked with snacks and I ate Blink-182’s Cap’n Crunch. Though things got far worse before they got better, speaking personally and globally, this is the moment where I began to heal.
It’s important to me to remember those moments of beginnings.
Fast forward five years to September 11, 2006.
These kids and their Dad and I hopped a plane in LA and flew back to New Jersey and started a life together. We had to get a special written dispensation to carry #5’s butt cream on the plane. I won’t speak for them, but as for me, I have never regretted any of it- the decision, the flight, or the butt cream (though I’m pretty happy he finally got potty trained).
Here are your links:
Clay Morgan is also remembering something different five years ago. The Greatest Teacher I Ever Had.
Funny: Tips for pet sitters by Paul Johnson, aka The Good Greatsby
Myth? No, an honest-to-god good day at the airport. Betty Londergan at What Gives 365
A really excellent picture of goats: Cheryl Zovich, Cur Tales
The best 9/11 post you didn’t read this week: Ten Years ago, Ed Whitehead had a view of the World Trade Center out his bedroom window and forty rolls of film. Perfect Souls Shine Through at Punchnels
That is five. However, given the gravity of the day, I leave you with one more which I would categorize as frickin’ hilarious by one of my favorite blogger/artists ever. Hyperbole and A Half: The Alot is Better Than You At Everything. Enjoy.
JM Randolph, accidentalstepmom 
Thanks for all that! I was on that bus with you…tho all I remember was being forced to watch the South Park movie…
Look at all of us now.
And thanks for that pic….it’s MY HOUSE!
Forced? Surely you liked it! I was hoping you’d see that pic in your back yard.
Fab writing. This sentence hovers beautifully: “It’s another post that I likely will never write, but there were things happening in my personal life at this time that made this tragedy seem not out of place.”
Nicely done.
Thanks- your comment made my day.
FWIW, I don’t think Allie has alot over you …. your blog rocks! (OK, I’m picturing Alot sitting on your head now …) Thanks for the shout-out!
This cracked me up! Seriously, that is like my favorite picture of goats EVER. I want to rub their little ears!
We watched South Park first. Then you went to bed (bunk?) and JM and I watched The Brady Bunch in the front lounge. Ahh. The tour bus. Deserves it’s own blog.
I forgot how appalled Jill was at the South Park movie.
Well, whatever posts you DO decide to write, know that I’ll be reading and loving them! Thanks for sharing this, and the sure-to-be-excellent links. Can’t wait to check them out. (Oh, man, I so owe you for introducing me to Hyperbole and a Half.)
She RULES!
Even though I am far away, for me too that was a day of new starts. I was in New Zealand at the time and I awoke to the clock radio alarm. There was an announcer saying something about the towers being destroyed, I forget the words now. My immediate first thought, half awake, was “It is not April Fool’s Day, what is all this?”
Then the announcer said somethign else and I thought I’d better check the TV.
I decided I wanted to go home. Home to Australia, where I belonged. And so I did.
I’m glad you did. And even gladder that now you have your family!
I like your Sunday One and Done posts!
Thank you!
Beautiful post. I think one of the smaller tragedies of 9/11 is how we all felt our personal pains were no longer valid. It is good to learn selflessness, but hard to have one’s own need to grieve or to hurt taken away. I buried an uncle on September 8th, 55 years old, after watching him die, and our whole family agrees we never really got to mourn him because of what we so earnestly and rightfully mourned so soon after. I am glad that you found a bridge to healing from that day.
Man, you totally nailed it. Anyone who had any kind of private pain around this time had it totally eclipsed by the monumental devastation of the terrorist attacks. I’m still processing. It makes me really feel for people living in countries where terrorism is a more regular occurrence- that’s real to me now.
Beautiful post. Lovely way to remember.
Thank you