Yesterday was rather a memorable day, but do you remember why?  Do you remember what anniversary it was?  Would you have remembered if you hadn’t seen tribute on a number of other blogs?

I will admit that I didn’t see the news yesterday or turn on the radio, so I have no idea of the coverage given to the seventh anniversary of 9/11.  From what I saw looking at other people’s papers on the tube, it didn’t make the front page, nor many of the inner pages of the papers.  In past years there have been minutes of silent rememberance for the victims of that day, but this year there was nothing in our office.  It seemed like just another day in London. 

Will the same be true when we come around to 7/7 again?  I don’t know.  But it seems that with time we forget.  We forget that so many people died, were injured, were left hurting and grieving.  We forget that for many people life didn’t carry on as normal when the news stopped reporting.  We forget that for many people nothing was the same from there on in. 

Some things, though, we don’t forget.  I would imagine, just like when you heard Princess Di had died, or the bombs went off on 7/7, you can remember just where you were and what you were doing when that first plane crashed. 

I was looking for my first job out of college.  I’d had in interview in Woking for a junior secretary role in a law firm’s conveyancing department.  I’d just visited the agency that referred me to debrief and there were murmers that something was going down.  Mum and I were driving over to Guildford, I had another interview there, but the radio news was sketchy.  It seemed that nobody really understood what was happening.  After we’d parked we walked along Guildford High Street but most of those shoppers were oblivious to the disasters unfolding across the ocean.  When I reached the agency the rumours were flying.  A plane had crashed in New York.  Still, nobody really knew what was happening.  The agents were relying on word that was being brought in, a few early details on the internet.  I went to the second interview.  I pushed the thoughts of what was happening to the back of my mind.  I carried on as normal.  And on the way home we listened to the news.  When we got back the news was turned on, and we watched the terror unfold.

Probably more because we don’t have friends or family in the US, I was lucky.  I didn’t know anyone affected by the tragedy.  But V nearly was.  If things had played out differently that day, I would not have a mother in law now, and I probably would never have met Y.  She was due at a meeting in one of the Towers that day.  In true V style, she was running late.  If she was on time, or the plane had crashed later she wouldn’t be here today.  I’m grateful that she is.

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