Coutinho: Memories Of 9/11 Still Feel Fresh Every Day
By Rich Coutinho
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Being around Shea Stadium had always been in my DNA. Having grown up a Met fan and spending so much of my childhood there and then spending a majority of my time in the press box as an adult. So, when the New York sports world convened there just 10 days after the World Trade Center attacks, it seemed like the right thing to do.
In a strange way, it seemed fitting I received the news of the death of Osama bin Laden while the Mets were playing a baseball game. The Mets were front and center in the healing process 10 years ago as the Shea Stadium parking lot became the place where many of the supplies used at Ground Zero were housed. Mets manager Bobby Valentine, the players, and the Wilpons donated heavily to the process, but not just with money -- they donated some much of their time as well.
Everybody remembers exactly where they were when we were attacked. I was driving across the Whitestone Bridge when the second tower was hit and I remember thinking this was it -- the world was coming to a halt. As the day went on, we all quickly realized our lives would never be the same. Words like "terror alert" have filtered into our vernacular and not a day passes by when we are not reminded of 9/11 in some way, whether we are at an airport or just waiting to getting our bags checked to get into a ball park.
But I also remember the night sports returned to New York and walking into Shea Stadium on September 21st, the first time since the attacks . There was something comforting about being in familiar surroundings with my reporting colleagues that started the healing process. I had been in that press box hundreds of times and seen some amazing things, like Mookie's grounder and Pratt's walk-off, but this was a different kind of special. It was a time to be immersed in a baseball game, just to put your mind on something else for 3 hours.
The last 10 years have been tough on Americans, because to most of us 9/11 is a gaping wound that never was cleansed. The death of Osama bin Laden represents justice served, but will never erase the memory of 9/11 or the days that followed this horrific attack on American soil.
Those memories haunt the families of 9/11 victims every single day. To their credit, they have coped with it enough to raise their children in the most trying of circumstances. I know many of these people and they are inspiring. I think today is a gratifying time for them, but reminds them of the pain they went through 10 years ago.
I can not begin to understand what they are feeling today. On one hand, they likely feel good that Bin Laden has paid the price of his life for his terrorist crimes, but on the other hand, the memory of that day has again been resurrected.
So, if you know someone who lost someone on that day, call them today -- spend some time with them -- take them to dinner. Help them remember their loved ones but also let them know they are keeping the spirit of their fallen heroes alive.
Do it because you care -- do it because that is what New Yorkers do.
