Monday, September 12, 2011
Saturday, September 10, 2011
My memories of the World Trade Center.
The tragedy of September 11, 2001 can never be minimized or forgotten. I did not personally know any of the thousands who lost their lives but I still feel the loss.
I have a different memory of the World Trade Center. The complex was built by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. My mother was a purchasing agent for the PA and was the supervising buyer. It was her responsibility to buy every nut, bolt, lighting fixture, piece of furniture, etc. that went into those buildings. She awarded the contracts for those who did the construction. I watched those structures as they were erected with awe and fascination. I remember when the PA moved into the towers. The elevators were a unique experience. The view from my mothers office was breathtaking. I would visit often. I remember the opening of the Windows on the World restaurant... my mother had enough clout to secure a reservation the first week... after all, she bought everything in the place. We sat next to Walter Cronkite that evening and were graced with the spectacular view of twinkling lights and stars. It was a magical night.
My mother retired in the mid 80's and other than using the PATH, I no longer spent much time there. There were a few visits back to the restaurant.. it went through several incarnations, and sometimes just a visit to the bar to wait for friends or have lunch. My mother passed away in 1995 and in 1997 I moved to Arizona.
A little after 6:00 a.m. (local time) on September 11, 2001 my phone rang. No one calls me that early so I knew something bad happened. My ex called me and told me I had better turn on my TV. ... a plane flew into one of the towers. Not long after that my daughter called me as well. She worked in lower midtown and her office faced the south tower. She could not see the north tower but could see smoke. While I was on the phone with her, all of a sudden I heard her gasp and scream. She said she could see another plane and it flew into tower two. She was 22 years old and like most of us, naive to such hatred and violence. She walked more than 50 blocks to get back to her apartment.
I felt like I had lost a best friend.... memories. I was glad my mother was not around to see this. It would have killed her. These were her children.
For many years we lived in a condo on the Jersey side of the Hudson river. The view from our windows was a sweep from the Verazano bridge to the GW bridge. I saw the lights of the towers every night.
I remember my next trip back to NY and driving across the George Washington bridge from New Jersey into NY. I always loved seeing the towers in the distance. This time, there was nothing but a huge gap where they should have stood. I started crying. I had to pull off the road when I got off the bridge... I could not contain my tears. For years I averted my eyes when I made the crossing. My daughter and friends have moved and I no longer take that route into NY.
To memories.... of people and places.
I have a different memory of the World Trade Center. The complex was built by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. My mother was a purchasing agent for the PA and was the supervising buyer. It was her responsibility to buy every nut, bolt, lighting fixture, piece of furniture, etc. that went into those buildings. She awarded the contracts for those who did the construction. I watched those structures as they were erected with awe and fascination. I remember when the PA moved into the towers. The elevators were a unique experience. The view from my mothers office was breathtaking. I would visit often. I remember the opening of the Windows on the World restaurant... my mother had enough clout to secure a reservation the first week... after all, she bought everything in the place. We sat next to Walter Cronkite that evening and were graced with the spectacular view of twinkling lights and stars. It was a magical night.
My mother retired in the mid 80's and other than using the PATH, I no longer spent much time there. There were a few visits back to the restaurant.. it went through several incarnations, and sometimes just a visit to the bar to wait for friends or have lunch. My mother passed away in 1995 and in 1997 I moved to Arizona.
A little after 6:00 a.m. (local time) on September 11, 2001 my phone rang. No one calls me that early so I knew something bad happened. My ex called me and told me I had better turn on my TV. ... a plane flew into one of the towers. Not long after that my daughter called me as well. She worked in lower midtown and her office faced the south tower. She could not see the north tower but could see smoke. While I was on the phone with her, all of a sudden I heard her gasp and scream. She said she could see another plane and it flew into tower two. She was 22 years old and like most of us, naive to such hatred and violence. She walked more than 50 blocks to get back to her apartment.
I felt like I had lost a best friend.... memories. I was glad my mother was not around to see this. It would have killed her. These were her children.
For many years we lived in a condo on the Jersey side of the Hudson river. The view from our windows was a sweep from the Verazano bridge to the GW bridge. I saw the lights of the towers every night.
I remember my next trip back to NY and driving across the George Washington bridge from New Jersey into NY. I always loved seeing the towers in the distance. This time, there was nothing but a huge gap where they should have stood. I started crying. I had to pull off the road when I got off the bridge... I could not contain my tears. For years I averted my eyes when I made the crossing. My daughter and friends have moved and I no longer take that route into NY.
To memories.... of people and places.
Winner of "Masters Art Quilts, vol 2"
Drum roll please....... I want to thank everyone who left a comment on my blog for this giveaway. Thank you for looking around and I hope some of you saw things you liked and will come back for another visit. There were 51 comments left on the correct blog entry and at least 8 others left on incorrect blogs. I used a random number generator and the lucky winner is...Dianne Koppisch Hricko. Please contact me via the "contact Me" button on the right side of the blog and send me your snail mail address so Lark can send the book out to you. Congratulations.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
I am calling this one Drunk Driving
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Not so random piece
The more I worked on this piece the more I realized that I am not a random type of gal. It finally even occurred to me that the fabrics I had chosen weren't so random either. I wound up with 10 large squares that I chopped up a bit. I have spent the last 2 days putting them up on my design wall... the result so far is not random either. It still needs some more chopping. I am hoping to have it all sewn together in the next day or two. Now just have to figure out how to quilt the damn thing.While this is not a brilliant piece, at least I am back to doing something. ..... which actually encourages the creative process. Sometimes even the mundane is a good thing.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Givaway!
OK folks, today is the start of the giveaway for the mouthwatering copy of "Masters Art Quilts, vol 2".
There is a twist to this one though. ... You need to leave a comment ON THIS POST about a different post on my blog. Since you are here anyway, you might as well look around :-). I will draw a random name on Saturday.
Good luck! And don't forget to make sure there is some way for me to contact you if you are the lucky winner. If there is NO email address associated with your name I cannot find you.
There is a twist to this one though. ... You need to leave a comment ON THIS POST about a different post on my blog. Since you are here anyway, you might as well look around :-). I will draw a random name on Saturday.
Good luck! And don't forget to make sure there is some way for me to contact you if you are the lucky winner. If there is NO email address associated with your name I cannot find you.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Teaser
 |
| Leslie Gabrielse |
 |
| Elizabeth Busch |
 |
| Jan Meyers-Newbury |
Come back tomorrow (Tuesday) and leave a comment .... but there is a twist to this one. Tomorrow I shall tell you what the twist is.
On some other notes... my diet is going fine... I had some added help (not wanted) in the form of a very bad UR infection that kept me in bed for days. I only sound like I am dieing now... with the help of some antibiotics, I think I avoided the dreaded bronchitis. I am going to try to get back to the project I started several weeks ago... if I have enough energy. This sucks.
Till tomorrow!
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