Terrible beauty

Nine-eleven. Two numbers in sequence that have to be more instantly recognizable and carry more emotional weight than any other numerical combination in history.


That was the day where we saw the worst and the best of humanity.

I wasn’t going to write anything about the tenth anniversary of the attacks. I pretty much revisited the pain when the SEALs took down Bin Laden.

As it is, I can’t watch any of the glut of television programs dedicated to it that have been running for the past week. I can barely make it thru the radio pieces on NPR. This one in particular got to me.

It seems I drive around in tears a lot these days. And I’m looking for some kind of solace.

SF Opera is premiering “Heart of a Soldier”, about Rick Rescorla, the head of security for Morgan Stanley. Through his prescience, preparedness and perseverance, all the staff in his charge escaped. The medium of opera is appropriate because Rescorla literally sang his charges down the stairs of the South Tower.

You can watch the History Channel docu on him here. Be prepared to cry.

But I also commend to you a video put together by the husband of one of my fellow sopranos in the old, pre-9/11 choir at Saint Anne’s in Reston.

Nine-eleven. That was the day all changed, changed utterly. I know I did.