Remembering takes time.
November 24, 2008 · Updated 6:36 PM
Maybe smaller memories need to incubate. That’s what has happened with the New York City trip and Sept. 11.
For some reason, I’m remembering the squirrel. We were walking through Union Square in Manhattan 10 days after the towers fell, and I noticed this squirrel. It was running along a fence in the park, getting very, very close to people as it peered into their hands for food.
I was struck by the animal for two reasons: I didn’t expect to see a squirrel in New York City, and the thing was so tame that it was eating out of people’s hands.
Of course, the squirrel wasn’t the first thing I noticed.
The faces around us were so very stricken that it was impossible not to stare
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