What I was doing 10 years ago: I was being startled awake by the phone ringing just before 7 a.m.. I remember thinking who the hell was calling that early as I stuffed my head under a pillow to muffle the sound. It was my moms. A minute later my big-big brother, who I lived with at the time, was banging on my bedroom door. I can still hear his voice. “Kate! Kate! You got to get up! You got to see this!” The Twin Towers were on fire. Two planes had crashed through them. The world as we knew it would never be the same again.
I couldn’t pull my eyes away. Not two weeks prior I had been in New York, I had got pictures of the towers, I had listened intently as a girlfriend of mine had pointed high up and told me the story of her parents getting married up there so many years prior. And as I watched the towers crumble that day, my heart broke for the people, the city, the country. Today, 10 years later, with video clips and images filling the TV screens, newspapers, and magazines, and with goosebumps still covering my skin, and tears still brimming my eyes, my heart continues to break for those lost, and for what used to be.
We will never forget.
What I’m doing today: Well, I’m not running, nor am I cycling or aqua jogging, or pilatesing … but I am walking. Dear physio never told me I couldn’t walk and I never asked, so I’m going with it 😀
And you know what, I’m actually kind of enjoying it. I had been going stir crazy. (And maybe driving Mario a little crazy while I was at it) For two and a half days, I was in a serious mood, a you don’t want to mess with me as I might drop kick you one second and burst into tears the next kind of mood. By noon Saturday, I had to something. And so, dressed in my lilac sundress, I put my walking shoes on and headed out the door. I started to power walk down the quay, a total 3 km there-and-back jaunt, when not halfway, I ran into my grams and her faithful Ginger. We walked together for about a half an hour before we went our separate ways; grams for home and me back to the power walk.
I headed back out the door today to meet up with Mario for lunch at Granville Island. He rode. I walked. From the Skytrain station at Science World to Granville Island is another 3 km trek. Mario and I had a great lunch out in the sun with music and beauty all around us. And when it was done, he went back on his ride and I went back on my walk. For two hours, I became a tourist in my city; my eyes opened to its beauty, its treasures, its hole-in-the-wall secrets. And today, I once again fell in love with the place I’ve always been.
Walking is no replacement to running, but for now, it’s a good diversion to the mind battles, knee struggles and mood swings. Thank you feet.
You’re making me homesick.
And that my friend is why you both should move back … or at the very least, stay for longer than a weekend 😉