Sunday, August 20, 2006

Another.

I walked home on 9/11 with one of the administrative assistants in my office, an older woman I didn't know very well. Our small office had waited it out for several hours, hoping for some improvements in the mass transit situation, until finally giving up and making alternative plans to get everyone out. I was asked to take A. with me, since we both lived in Brooklyn, and so we set out on foot shortly after noon. In a way I wanted to be alone, but walking with A. probably kept me from falling completely apart, because I felt I had to be the strong one. I thought she was in her early fifties, but later would learn she was in her mid sixties. I had nothing to worry about, as she kept up with me the entire way, refusing to stop for a rest as we passed storefront after storefront offering chairs and cups of water. We didn't talk much, although we took turns trying to connect to family members with my cell phone. It took us about three and a half hours to walk the seven miles.

She died, suddenly, a year and a half later, after a visit to her doctor for back pain uncovered advanced stomach cancer.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home

ring logo
Writing Desk Webring

Join | List | Random
Previous | Next
Powered by RingSurf
Locations of visitors to this page