The other night, I watched the movie "The Family Man" starring Nicholas Cage. I enjoyed it very much, although that's not intended to be my point.
The story takes place in two locations: New Jersey and New York. When Cage's character takes his wife to New York City for dinner, the camera shows a shot of the city's sky line.
Fiction quickly turned to non-fiction.
What a strange, ominous feeling. I was relaxing and suddenly I was reminded of what no longer was what was now a ghost. The Twin Towers.
I thought about how they looked so beautiful in the evening sky line of New York City. I thought about the shooting of this film and how back then no one ever would have dreamed that these buildings would be the target for the worst attack in history.
God, life is different now. Isn't it?
I was filled with sadness. I was drawn from the movie and back into thinking about all the lives lost. What I was looking at on the screen was, in fact, no more. It was a ghost.
The ghost of the past. The ghost of security and the ghost of life in America as it was. All innocently captured on film by camera operators who had no thought that this may be the last time they'd ever film these buildings.
There was a scene in the movie where Cage's character takes his wife to the city for dinner because he forgot their wedding anniversary. I recognized the restaurant immediately. It was the one in the Twin Towers. I remember seeing it on the news and watching the interview with the owner. The feeling of overwhelming shock and disbelief came over me again. There were extras, film crew, etc. in that restaurant during the shoot. Never in a million years would they have thought it was the last time they'd be there. The last time they'd ever see it again. They never dreamed it would become the target for a mass murder.
Who would have?
Every day I am seeing how life is different. Examples like the one above clearly demonstrates this.
The next time you catch "An Affair to Remember", or "The Family Man" or any movie shot in New York City, you will be reminded of what was.
You will be reminded of the saddest day in our history and become witness to a ghost.
© Ellen M. DuBois
About the Author
Ellen M. DuBois, MA - Ms. DuBois is engaged and has a dog who loves to critique her work. She is published in vol.2 of God Allows U-Turns with her piece, "The Angel in the Dumpster". She writes to touch the hearts of others. Please visit Writings of the Heart, her award winning writer's resource site- http://writingsoftheheart.homestead.com/index.html