People rally in face of tragedy

Resslin' Around by Casey Ressler

Eight years ago, as a Michigan State University student on vacation, I sat in the basement of my aunt and uncle's Pennsylvania home and watched as the networks brought breaking news of the World Trade Center bombing. I was astonished, as were my two cousins, who were watching it as well.

Tuesday morning, that same astonishment turned to horror. One of my cousins -- the same one who was by my side when the '93 bombings took place -- works in the Financial District of New York City, in a building just blocks from the WTC towers. She and her sister both live in Brooklyn now, after moving from Manhattan months ago. After getting over the initial shock of seeing airliners crash into the towers, I jumped on the phone, trying to find any information about how my two cousins were doing.

They were OK, thankfully, but it showed how the tragedy not only affects those in New York City, but also the rest of the world. In the newsroom, calls poured in from people who recently were in New York and had pictures of the towers, standing proudly above the Big Apple. A call even came in from a Big Lake man who witnessed the attack while on business there. As you talked to people, you found out they knew somebody in Manhattan, through six degrees of separation. If New York City isn't the center of the world, it is pretty close to it.

Hyperbole often gets used in the media when big events happen. But not in this case, because there is simply no way to overstate what has happened. It really was the darkest day in American history, in terms of lives lost. Talking heads on television have said that life as we know it has changed, because of the terrorist attack on America. They are right -- things simply won't be the same again. What only could happen in movies happened in real life.

The way American communities -- and Alaskan communities as well -- have pulled together is one way in which life has changed, for the better. We are somewhat isolated from the rest of the country, but the impact was felt just as hard in Alaska. Hunters could not be picked up and travelers were stranded as planes grounded to a halt on runways around the state, a state in which aviation is perhaps more important than transportation via car or truck. Mail and supplies could not be flown to the Bush.

Around the Valley, people showed their support for those in New York by flying American flags from their homes, creating inspirational signboards for their businesses and by filling the blood bank, waiting hours to donate, because it was a little something they could do. An event more than 5,000 miles away has drawn this community tighter, much like it has communities around America.

Yes, life has changed now. America has lost a little bit of her innocence. But it also gained a sense of community togetherness in the process. The unfortunate thing is that it took such a horrific and devastating event to rally people together.

Casey Ressler (valleylife@frontiersman.com) is the Frontiersman Valley Life editor.