September Widows is an article written by Gail Sheehy which discussed the lives of three women before 9/11 and how the attack had lead them down "an uncharted wilderness of grief". The article starts of describing Middletown, New Jersey. The way the people are described who live in Middletown make it seem like the town has its own social system. The article discusses how the inhabitants had "achieved the ultimate suburban dream" being to own your own area of land in order to create a live of independence and privacy. We get a taste of how that really is from the first widow's story, Kristen Breitweiser. The article goes into detail about who she is and what kind of person she was like but I want to focus more on how she lived her life right before 9/11. When thinking about how much Kristen's life had changed after 9/11 you have to consider how her relationship with her husband (who died) really was. Ron and Kristen had become inseperable, "She had no hobbies and he had no hobbies because thier hobbies were each other." This statement really shows how in-sync the two of them were, how they only needed each other. This concept of Middletown having their own social system comes in here when discussing thier social lives. In, late August 2001 Kristen and Ron when to a cocktail party and made a joke that they hadn't been out alone since thier baby was born, however true it is they didn't need a social life. "They didn't even see much of thier own families". In theory they didn't need them because they only needed each other. Another part to this article that tugs on your heart-strings is how the characters are portrayed. Especially the deceased. In the second widows story Pat Wotton, and her struggles to create a family she could be proud of. We read about her stuggles to have children and how when they finally did have a child we get the emotion rollercoaster of how much her husband loved to be around thier child and her, how happen they made each other; before the fall of The Twin Towers.
How Rod Wotton would take the vactation time off of work to spend time with his daughter and wife instead of using it to climb the ladder in the Wall Street. This idea of "Sharp-elbowed competition with other men in thier 30s looking to make thier fortune on Wall Street before they hit 50 and burned out," really leads the community to focus on self success rather than general population success. Here is where the 9/11 strikes actually make a change in the comminities. As I have discussed in many posts going through hardships together with other people will make your bonds and relationships stronger afterwards. The communities of 9/11 had previously been isolated and self focused however after the attacks we get ideas of how the communities were working together to repair the damage. Neighbors who either were never seen or distant in some way would come forward, we see hundreds of firefighters from all over the city join together to work on saving as many lives as possible. Lisa Luckett was another who lost her husband in the attack however her story gives us a realist view. How even though she might not have wanted the help from her neighbore. However "her neighbore would need desperately to feel they were doing something, Lisa understood they would have to bring her food or do her laundry and her children." The people of the community whos lives were not completely devistated by the losses felt they had a job to do, to help other. I believe that it is human nature to help others when they are in need. Its hard for someone to turn their back on people who need help. Separated communities can be bound together when they have something in common, weither it be revenge or just a feeling of loss there will always be people willing to help and give support. |