Editor�s Note

There are some events so momentous that, years after they happen, you remember every detail of the day on which they took place. I�ve experienced a few of those days throughout my life, but the one that�s most vivid to me is that Tuesday seven years ago that began when I was woken by an early morning phone call.

In general, phone calls that come at odd hours are never good news. This was no exception.

Because the call came before my usual waking time, I waited for the phone to ring the requisite four times and listened to the disconcerting sound of my own voice crackling through the answering machine�s speaker, giving the standard greeting and instructions.

After the beep, my friend Dan�s voice, clipped and urgent, said: �Turn on your TV! Now!�

I jumped out of bed, ran to the living room and switched on the TV. Dan hadn�t said what station to turn on, and that was a sure sign that whatever was going on, it was big. Every channel was showing the same thing.

The image on the screen was obviously a shot of the southern end of Manhattan � a view made famous by so many movies and TV shows that even people who�d never been to New York City immediately knew what they were looking at. But there was something missing.

A pall of billowing smoke under the brilliant blue sky seemed to be obscuring downtown Manhattan�s most famous landmarks.

�Where�s the World Trade Center?�

Between the time I first saw that terrible image and the time I arrived at work an hour and a half later, that was all that I could bring myself to say. I said it only once, and that was quite enough.

On my way to work, all the faces looked like my face � full of shock, disbelief, sorrow. I didn�t say a word at the neighbourhood coffee house, but I got my usual order.

The bus downtown, normally full of boisterous talk, laughter and phone conversations, was silent. The streets were quiet. Not a single airplane or helicopter flew overhead.

Walking into the newsroom of the weekly paper where I worked was almost a relief after the funereal trip there. The biggest story of most of our lifetimes was unfolding on the other side of the country, and we had a job to do.

All the faces still mirrored the shock in mine, but at least at work we had a purpose and set about redoing the entire paper from the ground up on a deadline day.

It�s funny how clear that day remains in my mind. It sometimes feels like it was just yesterday, and I�m pretty sure that it will continue to feel that way for a long time. Maybe for as long as I live.

In a lot of ways, it�s no wonder that it�s so easy to remember. The whole world changed that day, and it will never be the same.

Sean Vale
Editor
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