Entry from my diary - Sept.11, 2001

Having kept a diary most of my adult life, I dug up my journal from 9/11/01 including a scrap of paper that I handed to my supervisor who was just introducing the training we had just begun in Saratoga. I had been tapped on the shoulder by Nancy, the owner of the training facility who brought me into the kitchen where a television showed the smoke from the first tower. Stunned, she prompted me to notify my supervisor about the attack. I struggled with finding the words to scribble onto that piece of paper. I can’t remember which version she read. But here it is…

Pam - at next break?
A terrorist attack on the world trade center – a 737 airplane hit the world trade center 1 at 9:00 and 1 at 9:03. Karen wants to know if you want a TV set up or if you want to just announce alerts all over NYC.

Thought you should know – A terrorist attack just occurred at the world trade center. A 737 airplane crashed in to the building (2 planes? At 9:00 and 9:03?) NYC is on alert.

Here's is a part of the journal entry.....some parts deleted.

3pm 9-11-01

At this moment, I am at the Wayside Inn in Saratoga for a Suicide Prevention training. We are all strangers here, but we have one thing in common. For years to come we will all recall where we were when the news came that 4 domestic airplanes were hijacked - 2 of which crashed into the World Trade Center……….As I learned of the news, I immediately attempted to contact Steve and Pam Rosenbaum for which I was unsuccessful due to phone lines being jammed. Eventually, I was able to contact Eileen who had made contact with them shortly after 9am, before plane #2 crashed.....My dad cried today…..he may have lost friends in this attack and our cousin Janet works at the trade center. At SUNY, they cancelled classes. My mom is visiting Aunt Rose in Florida and can’t get home. Roger can’t get home as well, but I don’t know the details yet. His message indicates that Rt. 28A our road leading to our home has been closed. We think its because our road surrounds the reservoir – the water which feeds NYC.

TOMORROW – I will transcribe my diary notes from a volunteer trip to Ground Zero that I took with the SUNY New Paltz AmeriCorps students three months later.....

Pavarotti and Sting

I continue to grieve the loss of Pavarotti, however thanks to YouTube, I don't have to unpack my collection of VHS tapes from the attic to enjoy watching him. Here's a new video I discovered of Pavarotti singing with Sting. There have been some "train wreck" duets including the one he did with Barry White, however, Panis Angelicus with Sting is such a great merging of two distinct voices.....Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUh1SlrtEG0

PS. Take note of the guitar player. I would love to play like that someday.

New guitars for both of us.

Received a loaner guitar (sort of) from the music shop in Woodstock. Ron the owner is so wonderful. The one I wanted is on back order, so I purchased a similar one and will trade it in later this month for the one I want….. Started practicing a little bit. Alan became very excited to see my new guitar and said he wanted to “share mommy’s guitar”. I had purchased him a new guitar the same day (same blue color and everything - see pictures above), but he still wanted mine. I eventually gave up trying to play because we were both getting frustrated....This morning was a little bit better. We had our first “jam session” to the song You are my sunshine. We even sang together. Very cool (in a mommy sort of way)…

Taking a nap

Alan stayed up later than usual last night, and woke up extra early. As you can see from this picture, he conked out a little bit earlier than expected on our playroom floor at about 11:10AM. The babysitter said he pulled the blanket off the couch, placed it on the floor and put a book over his eyes. He muttered something about taking a nap at Pop-Pop’s and fell into dreamland. It’s now 1pm and he’s still asleep.

Luciano Pavorotti 1935-2007

Woke up to the sad news about the death of Luciano Pavorotti. His music always reached deep into my soul. Below are two of my archived blog entries that have included references to his music.

O Sole Mio (My Sun)

http://michellerosenbaum.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html#3857527292831381398

Tenor Tuesday

http://michellerosenbaum.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html#3463719356581352915

Hello everyone

Hi there - Spent a delightful day at SUNY New Paltz catching up with old friends. I was hoping to run into more students. Really lifted my spirits to see everyone. After dinner I took Alan to Ulster Landing Park and we threw stones in the water and chased geese. He knows about geese from a Henry and Mudge book, so it was fascinating to see him make the connection - especially to the work "honk" (the sound geese make). He marveled at watching them take flight! I'll have to post the photo at some point. He also began the project of moving bricks from one side of the park to the boat launch where he plopped them into the water making a huge splash each time. Being out most of the day, I missed him, so it was a nice time for us to be together. In other news, tomorrow I will be heading up to Woodstock to get my new guitar. I was supposed to get it today, but ran out of time....Hope all is well with you and yours...

Parade of Seniors (Class of 2008)

Just woke up to the Class of 2008 parading (speeding) down the avenue. I always measure the amount of class spirit by how much honking and hurraying the senior class does on their first day. Seems like a pretty loud group. Lots of balloons with cars decorated with paint, etc...This is a good thing, because they are heading towards the school, a day closer to that diploma and all seem happy at 7:23 AM.