[blml] A day to remember

[Sven Pran]

I had thought that as time goes by the impressions from five years ago would
eventually have faded away.
 
To some extent they have, but I must realize that they linger in my
subconscious and present themselves whenever I am somehow reminded of those
events.

I still remember my first conscious thought as I slowly woke up in my hotel
room in Washington DC on Wednesday 9/12: "This has not been just a bad
dream, it did really happen".

The rest of 9/11 is just chaotic, I do remember a lot of details, but when I
try to put them together I am almost unable to get the time element to fit.

What really had and still has great impact on my mood were all the
impressions I received from being within the American society in the weeks
to follow; a "we will not give in" attitude that I imagine can only be
compared with the shocking experience from Pearl Harbor in 1941, combined
with the sympathy for all the victims who died while doing their rescue jobs
or just because they happened to be on the wrong place at the wrong time.

For my own part I was very little "practically" disturbed by the events,
still all the impressions remain in my mind and I realize they will probably
remain there for the rest of my life.

On this day all my thoughts go abroad in a mood of grief.

Sven (in Norway)