Re:Re:Routed

Sometimes the synchronicities of life are strikingly surprising. I have been thinking a lot about September 11th lately - not only because the anniversary is fast-approaching, but also because there is a project connected to it that has lain dormant for several years, and lately I've been feeling like picking it back up again.

Rachel, Chloë, and I left for the Grand Canyon from Chicago on the morning of September 11, 2001. We were traveling Route 66 and did not find out about the attacks until the afternoon when stopping for gas. We ultimately decided to keep going with our trip - which resulted in some amazing conversations and the opportunity to travel cross-country with our eyes and ears open in an entirely new way.

We created a show, Re:Routed, which we performed in different variations at various points for a little while, and I had always intended to do a book project combining our journal entries, photographs, and later ruminations on the trip. Perhaps it will still happen; I certainly hope so.

This week I heard an interview on StoryCorps of a young boy whose grandfather was killed in the attack on the World Trade Center, and tonight I entered the living room to find my husband watching United 93 on TNT. It's riveting and upsetting and startlingly realistic, which makes it somewhat difficult to watch.

Even now, nearly 7 years later, the disorientation, fear, and disbelief of that day comes flooding back. I think it's important to remember those feelings when we hear of tragedies and losses of life in other countries (be they natural disasters or acts of war), and to continue to honor the memory of all those lost throughout our country's history. May peace be with them.