Rest In Peace….
Tuesday, September 11th, 2007I don’t know what’s more amazing to me…..the fact that the summer of 2007 is officially over, or the fact that 9/11 happened 6 years ago….
I remember as a kid, the days seemed to take forever….I also remember my father telling me that when you get older time flies….I didn’t believe him then, but now I do…you blink and another year passes…..
I can’t say that this was the most amazing summer of my life, but it wasn’t bad either…I’d rank this summer in the middle of the pack of my 29 summers…somewhere in the upper half, but not the most memorable one….I’m satisfied with the summer of 2007, but at the same time realize that summer lost it’s luster…..compared to the feeling I got as a kid for the summertime…..could it be that as a kid, not only are you carefree but everything is new to you? Or is it that when you get older, you have things called responsibilities and bills and all of a sudden worry about everything….
I still can’t help to look back and smile at summers of the past….like the summer of 1989 or 1990…1989, was the last year I hung out with the older kids in my neighborhood (before they out grew me, they were 5+ years older than me) and 1990 was the year I graduated elementary school (I was on top of the world, I just really started to discover girls, had the two cutest ones in school sweat me, I got straight A’s and was the school’s best athlete..haha)….those were probably the best years of my childhood…….baseball cards, bike riding, picking on girls, playing ball, sleep overs, sneaking out at night causing mischief, staying up late to watch Skinamax (or for you Philly Folk, Prism)…there is nothing like the exploration of the world when you are 9, 10, and 11 years old….the summer I graduated high school also pops up when I think of the summer, too (1997)….my first year of total freedom and adulthood, getting ready for college….going to Seaside, Great Adventure, ECW wrestling matches, just driving around staying out all night, crazyness (and I never drank or got high)…..When I think of “Summertime” those 3 summers come up.
Things change though as you get older…..one thing that doesn’t change for me is the feeling I get when September rolls around….I love the fall….it’s still kinda warm here in Jersey….the leaves change color….baseball playoffs is when baseball gets exciting….another new football season brings hope….first days of school occur….there is nothing like the excitement of newness….especially when that “newness” brings hope….the hope that a new season or school year brings change for the better…..although, the summer isn’t as exciting as it was when I was a kid, the fall is always intriguing to me…..just the thought of the previously mentioned plus Halloween and Thanksgiving….I just love the fall….
Then of course there is that purgatory in between the summer and fall….September 11th….summer although officially ends September 22nd, in America’s eyes it ends Labor Day…..but as long as it is still hot out, it’s not quite fall until September 23rd when the calendar says so and when the leaves begin too change……I think most Americans agree that time in between has a weird feel…..the days leading up to 9/11 and the week or so after brings back a lot of craziness….I was fortunate to not lose anyone I knew in the WTC attacks, but I was still impacted….especially since my mom, the most important person in my life used to work in the World Trade Center when I was little….
In my opinion it’s sad that there isn’t more reflection on 9/11….if you watch the news, yes there are memorials and tributes all over the place….in my opinion that is not enough….Kids should have off from school and people should have off from work….I think it is a time when family should be together….yes, old schoolers disagree because that wasn’t done for Pearl Harbor, but in my opinion, 9/11 is bigger than Pearl Harbor. Today, I had my first day at my school that I am interning at once a week this fall semester…..not once did the teacher talk about what happened in 2001….the principal had a quick moment of silence before school started (I got chills during that 30 second stillness), but that was it…I asked my co-operating teacher if he was going to talk about it, and he said no. He said some parents don’t want it talked about…How sad!
I’m no much better because I was looking forward to 9/11 all week…the only thing I could think of was the releases of Kanye West and 50 Cent’s new albums…I wasn’t the only one….The hype surrounding these two CD’s was crazy…..I haven’t been this excited about the release of a CD since I cut school to get Wu-Tang Forever in June of 1997….and you know what, I think I am pathetic for feeling the way I did…..I was extremely touched by 9/11, and always got reflective during this time….not this year….I forgot it was “9/11″ until I sat down for my weekly Tuesday Spaghetti Dinner with my grandparents and watched the news….my mood changed from pure excitement and adreneline to shame……
Being a music buff/hip hop head, this was the biggest day in music (or atleast hip hop) in a very, very long time….bigger than the day of Jay-Z’s supposedly last album, “The Black Album,” , bigger than the day Nas dropped “Stillmatic,” and I’m gonna go out on a limb and say bigger than the day Biggie’s “Life After Death” dropped…or atleast the biggest day since, which was over 1o years ago…..it was a big day for hip hop and it’s fans…but you know what shame on us…shame on hip hop….shame on the record labels for creating such a buzz on 9/11….this should be a day for reflection….or should it?? I know, I have been depressed the previous 5 September 11ths, yet today was one of the best days I had in a long time….is that the power of music? Or the proof that someone needs to get their priorities straight (and that someone isn’t just me, because I know I wasn’t the only one that felt this way)…..I told my friend Dawan, that I felt like a kid again today….all for some stupid cd’s….cd’s by the most arrogant people in show biz…the biggest assholes in the game….what a fool I am….but why not? It’s still officially the summertime….why not one more run at that special summertime feeling? I’m not that old, yet…..
Part of me feels guilty for being so excited and happy today, on September 11th, but then again, maybe it’s not such a bad idea to find something that takes your mind off of pain….it is easier said than done because I didn’t lose anyone on this date 6 years ago, but feeling this way does make me feel better……now only if everyone could be as carefree as me at times….
Rest In Peace to the summer of 2007….Rest in Peace to the people affected by September 11, 2001….