9/11

I'm from New York, 15 miles outside the city. I used to work above Century 21 which is/was directly across the street from the Twin Towers. I ate there, shopped there, drank there, took the Path train from Hoboken there, etc....Luckily, at that point, I had transferred locations and was working in the burbs. My father was painting the Manhattan Bridge the day of  9/11. He had a crystal clear view of the towers and when the first plane hit, he thought it was an accident. After the second plane hit, he knew we were being attacked and his first thought was they were going to try to take out the infrastrucutre of the city, e.g. bridges and roads. He rushed to get all his men down including his nephew, my cousin. They all made it safely down.

It was scary for many hours because there was no cell service. You could not get a hold of anyone. My cousin, who is a tough kid that I always looked up to, finally called our house. He was crying. I remember thinking what a scene it must have been to make him so scared. Somehow, everyone I knew made it out of the building safely except for one. He was a friend's father, Captain Fred Ill. He ran into the burning building to try to save people. His son, also a firefighter, was on the way to the scene from another ladder company. I couldn't imagine the pain he went through knowing his father was in there as the buildings were coming down and there was nothing he could do.

I will be remembering them all today.

Relating to the above, tonight I had the time to sit down and play the guitar. Playing music is so realaxing and it got me out of my depressive funk from all the B.S. that has been happening around here. About 10 years ago, I had the opportunity to teach music at a sleep away camp. I would teach these little kids songs. The drum parts, guitar, bass and piano parts (Once I figure out trading, or have some more time on my hands, I plan on doing this again for under priveledged kids in community). Then we would form a band with them. Every three weeks there would be a talent show where the kids would play. It was a blast. There was one kid, maybe 13, at the time, who was just phenomenal with the guitar. He was probably one of the best guitarists I had heard in my life up to that point. There happened to be an excellent bass player as well, a decent singer, and an okay drummer. Together, these kids were so good, that we decided to take them on a trip to another camp. It was like bringing The Beatles around. These little camp girls went wild for them. It was a great time. Low and behold, young Jack has grown up and formed a few bands. Here is a song that relates to 9/11 that he wrote for an album about three years ago. Hope you enjoy:

I choose the live version because the kid is just damn good: