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September 09, 2006

'I Just Called to Say I Love You'

Peggy Noonan on the sounds of 9/11 and the messages left by ordinary people facing their imminent death.

I think too about the sounds that came from within the buildings and within the planes--the phone calls and messages left on answering machines, all the last things said to whoever was home and picked up the phone. They awe me, those messages.

Something terrible had happened. Life was reduced to its essentials. Time was short. People said what counted, what mattered. It has been noted that there is no record of anyone calling to say, "I never liked you," or, "You hurt my feelings." No one negotiated past grievances or said, "Vote for Smith." Amazingly --or not--there is no record of anyone damning the terrorists or saying "I hate them."

No one said anything unneeded, extraneous or small. Crisis is a great editor. When you read the transcripts that have been released over the years it's all so clear.

Flight 93 flight attendant Ceecee Lyles, 33 years old, in an answering-machine message to her husband: "Please tell my children that I love them very much. I'm sorry, baby. I wish I could see your face again."

I dare anyone to read the whole thing without weeping.

I couldn't and I'm not ashamed to say so.

(h/t Michelle)

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Posted by Darleen at September 9, 2006 08:19 AM

Comments

And a wind of ashes blows across the land
...for one long moment in eternity
There is chaos and despair

And buried loves and voices
Cries and whispers
Fill the air
Everywhere

History of the Airplane by
Lawrence Ferlinghetti

From West Coast Writers Approach Ground Zero

Posted by: Carl W. Goss at September 12, 2006 09:17 AM