Thursday, September 11, 2014

9/11 x 13

TR's comment got me thinking, and that's always scary.  Seems like this group should at least have one dedicated post for the anniversary of the September 11 insidiousness.  When all that's left of friends are their memories, stir them up like you'd stir up some salsa verde. TR was right, the world moves on, either in defiance (a good thing) or because life is too busy to stagnate, even in somber reflection (a bad thing). Here's a little bit of reflection on an otherwise busy workday.

I was woken up by my pregnant wife that morning, who said a plane had crashed into the WTC. Like Mark, I thought little of it. I figured a small commuter plane had screwed up and collided with the building.

I sat down at the television, instantly realized it was no small collision, and seconds later watched the second plane plow through the 80-something-ieth floor windows of the other tower. And I can remember that horrified feeling very palpably. Chills just typing it, the worst kind of chills.

Soon thereafter I got the call not to bother coming into my Federal government office. Glad to have missed that chaos due to sleeping in a little. But the next call was the worst, and I also remember that one all too vividly: our fratre Otis called me and said, "You know, Lud works in the World Trade Center." Sinking feeling Part II, more chills and a whole lot of anxiety. Reminds me of the first Superman movie when Miss Teschmacher overhears her boss Lex Luthor divulging his sinister, imminent plan to send missiles at the east and west coasts, including one headed to Hackensack, New Jersey at that moment:
MISS TESCHMACHER
But Lex, my mother lives in Hackensack.
LEX LUTHOR
[looks at his watch, shakes his head no]

Hollywood and DC Comics are one thing.  This was real life, or lack thereof.

Never really occurred to me at the time that Lud might not have made it out. He's Lud, the nicest guy I had ever met.  Bar none.  For real, not some posthumous superlative like we're prone to distributing. He was a shirt-off-his-back and maybe the top layer of skin if you needed it, too.  Of course he made it out.  He's Lud.

But subsequent phone calls forebode bad things. He worked on a floor with a big number. Damn his big shot job. He'd called his mom and said they told his office to stay put. Got that news right around the time the first tower imploded like a sand castle.  Oh, shit.  Then the second.  Way worse words than shit.

And then, as Rob described, the waiting.  And hoping against hope.  It's an agonizing type of passing for family and friends, because you don't have the cops or the soldiers or the firefighters come to your door with bad news.  You just don't have your loved one come to the door with good news.  Over and over, minute after minute, and day after day.

Eventually, our group of friends became resigned to the sad fact.  And then we found out our other fraternity brother Scoop Edwards, a year Lud's elder and a goofy guy with whom I attended a few Dead shows (brah), was gone, too.  And a third Pi Lam, Jim Conner, who was old enough (class of '85) that we hadn't met or hadn't remembered meeting.  As I recall, six William & Mary undergrad alums perished in the attacks, three of whom were in our fraternity within six years.  Are you kidding me?

And so a week and a half later we sent Lud off with a fitting day and night in Manhattan, serious and sad followed by drunken and stupid, all of it filled with Ludisms and fond memories.  It was also my 31st birthday. You assholes tried in vain to put my head in the john.  Lud protected me.  Seems like a million years ago.

The last time I saw Lud, eerily, was at Evan's funeral kegger two months prior.  He had come out from the city to Pennsyltucky with Hud (simple nicknamers, we) to pay his remembrances to another great one.  He gave my brother-in-law a ride to the hotel when no one would, because that's what he did, and then he drove home the next day and began a conversation with his wife about how he would want to be remembered in a funeral service (or lack thereof) like Evan's, which he assumed he would have to remind her over the years.  Evan's festival of remembrance was July 22.  Lud's would be September 22.  A bad run of luck by any measure for our group.  But that humdinger of a send-off for Ev was the last time I saw Lud.

The story didn't get rosier as time wore on.  Lud's widow, I suppose I can say here in relative obscurity, turned out to be pretty horrible, though her horribleness benefits greatly from the context of those who removed her husband from this world. It suffers from any comparison to the man we cherished, of course.  Lud's dad, who had mentored most of us W&M ruggers in the sport at one time or another and was a Welsh prince without the lineage, was eaten up by Alzheimer's and left us a few years back.  And Lud's little sister, one of my favorite friends from college and Dave's/Rob's/my freshman hallmate, got married to a limey bastard who gave her children as well as much more than a pintful of heartache.  No luck for the downtrodden.

That's all I have to say about that right now.  Getting a mite bit choked before a meeting and a work happy hour wasn't on my agenda, but 9/11 is mostly about unplanned alterations in a workday -- and a life.  God bless you merry gentlemen and women of G:TB on a Thursday extraordinary only in its place on the calendar, a date which dredges up sad and sorry memories for us.  Thank goodness.

12 comments:

rob said...

today finds me in a black mood, for certain.

in addition to those three lammies, chris murphy, a grad school classmate of mine and a laid-back yalie (if those things are compatible), also perished that day.

i can't help but thinking that the world right now is as fucked up and awful a place as it's been any time since that terrible day. and we're about to go back into iraq with no clear plan as if the past decade taught us nothing.

we also buried a friend of the family who passed after a 13-year battle with cancer. his 10 and 8 year-old kids never knew their dad as a healthy person. he was 48.

Marls said...

As I told Whit earlier today, it always make me smile to recall getting tossed from the Old Town Tavern after the aborted birthday jam of Whit with the bartender screaming about us breaking their 100 year old urinals. I had come from another memorial service that day and met up with the folks at NYAC for the tail end of the event. Frankly, I did not feel much like celebrating, but commiseration and idiocy of that evening helped a lot.

zman said...

We've had an unprecedented spate of good writing here lately. We should run the salsa post back on a sunnier day.

mr kq said...

2nd what Z said. While super sad this post is beautifully written. Was Lud a rugger? And/or his dad?

rob said...

both were, mr kq. mr lud shot the boot after a match during our college years.

Whitney said...

Lud was almost singularly responsible for convincing me to come play rugby when I met him the first weekend I was at college. It just went from there, and I know him a debt of gratitude.

mr kq said...

Well done Lud. For getting you out and shooting the boot.

rob said...

reposting this comment in case clarence didn't see it - he'll fondly recall the reference:

my daughter just made a row of people laugh audibly. at a funeral.

kinda like when me and clarence lost our shit laughing at a wedding, only even more inappropriate.

Dave said...

hey gheorghies.

great post. evan's kegger was also the last time i spent with lud. it's weird that my current crew of high school seniors are the first that don't remember 9/11 as an event, only as a thing older people talk about.

Danimal said...

Yay - it's no longer 9/11.

Pistorious - not free

T.J. said...

i put the salsa verde post up as a friday morning item

Anonymous said...

JOIN THE ILLUMINATI CALL +27743185702 OR order100.100@aim.com JOIN THE ILLUMINATI FROM SOUTH AFRICA, USA, OR ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD TODAY BE RICH, FAME, AND POSSES POWER.email us on order100.100@aim.com OR call us on +27743185702 for immediate initiation New members registration is now open online now !!!!! BENEFITS GIVEN TO NEW MEMBERS WHO JOIN ILLUMINATI. A Cash Reward of USD $300,000 USD A New Sleek Dream CAR valued at USD $120,000 USD A Dream House bought in the country of your own choice One Month holiday (fully paid) to your dream tourist destination. One year Golf Membership package A V.I.P treatment in all Airports in the World A total Lifestyle change Access to Bohemian Grove Monthly payment of $1,000,000 USD into your bank account every month as a member One Month booked Appointment with Top 5 world Leaders and Top 5 Celebrities in the World. If you are interested call the agent now +27743185702 or send your e-mail to order100.100@aim.com for immediately initiation.New members registration is now open online -

JOIN THE ILLUMINATI AND GET RICH AND POSSES POWER