[NYAPRS Enews] Remembering 9/11: Hope in the Face of Tragedy

[Harvey Rosenthal]

Recalling the tragedy of the September 11, 2001 attacks, I am moved to
recall the horror of those initial images on the TV of the second plane
hitting the World Trade Center and realizing along with the rest of the
world that we were indeed all victims to a heinous, brutal attack. 

 

Making sure my family members were managing as well as could be
expected, I came into Albany and arrived at a church meeting that was
originally intended to be a state budget advocacy planning meeting by
advocates for low income New Yorkers....and ended up a stunned
opportunity for shared grief and prayer. 

 

I then walked over to the nearby NYAPRS office and got on a
teleconference call with NYAPRS leaders forced to decide whether to
continue with the 2001 Annual NYAPRS Conference, which was scheduled to
start the NEXT day.

 

Remembering that self help meetings are never cancelled, even if only
one person shows up, we decided to go forward, determined to try and
carry on and be there for each other, celebrating our message of hope,
healing and recovery..even in the wake of this terrible tragedy. 

 

As it turned out, over 500 attendees did indeed show up, coming in from
every corner of upstate New York. We quickly came to realize that all
roads and buses out of the greater New York City and Long Island area
were closed and that those members would not be able to join us.

 

For those of us who were there, the 2001 NYAPRS Annual Conference was an
unforgettable experience. I will always remember with great gratitude
and poignancy the images of those who picked up the challenge and came
through to inspire, comfort and cheer the 500 of us who were
there....then-President Jack Guastaferro sporting his red Conference
Committee helicopter beanie and ministering to us all with his humor and
his hope, then-first time Open Mike leader Mike Skinner who gave many a
chance to heal through his and their own music and poetry, the inspiring
Jackie McKinney who braved the train trip from Philadelphia to deliver
the only keynote possible that year.

 

We hugged, we cried, we raged, we huddled together, carrying on the long
time spirit of the conference....to celebrate, inform and inspire...and
to forge and nurture community. 

 

Those of us who were there will never forget it. 

 

And we'll never forget how, several months later, we brought the
conference to our downstate family with a full program sited at the
Brooklyn Marriot. We won't forget Mary Ellen Copeland's stirring keynote
and our interdenominational keynote that brought together speakers from
many faiths and cultures. 

 

That conference was aptly titled 'Hope, Healing and Recovery'.

 

Finally, I'll never forget the sunrise walk I took the next morning over
the Brooklyn Bridge and the way the sun gleamed brightly on the proud,
untouched skyscrapers, highlighting the everlasting beauty of the great
City and the hope and healing that lay ahead.

 

Harvey

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