Van Morrison, Real Real Gone

I worked for my father at his restaurant, Due South, in Tribeca when the WTC was attacked. On Monday nights, we usually played quieter music (The Grateful Dead, Van Morrison, and the like). Since the radio wasn't turned on on Tuesday (9/11) the disc player was set for Van Morrison's Greatest Hits Volume 2. My father, then boyfriend (now husband), and myself arrived at work around 8:00 on Wednesday morning to begin cooking and getting food out to the people working twelve blocks south of us on the pile. We only did free takeout--no one could buy a drink or a meal those first few days.

Anyway, ten years later, the opening bars of Real Real Gone still send shivers up my spine. We chose not to turn the TV on (actually, my Dad banned it saying that we had a close enough view of it) and just listened to music and packed boxes. When I could, I chain smoked.

My dad and I were talking about that time about a week ago. We talked about the music of the time. We talked about some of the random and grim laughs we had. We talked about the six month hangover that everyone (including ourselves) seemed to have. There are days when I cannot believe that it's been ten years. But I can measure that time with personal milestones: I gave up smoking. I don't drink nearly as much as I did in those horrible days after 9/11. I married my boyfriend. We are expecting our third child.

Thanks.

Erin Haas