As I have watched some of the programmes commemorating those atrocities on this day in 2001, there is a recurring emphasis – that day changed the world. It is hard to imagine what could have been had those attacks not been perpetrated. It has always struck me, though, that on a much more personal level, my life changed on 11 September 2001. It was on that day that I flew out to Crete on a cheap package deal to catch the end of the season. My holiday companion was my best friend and it was not too long from this date that we fell out of friends (a story which is still too complicated, painful and confusing to go into). It was a matter of hours from landing in Crete that I was to clap eyes on my future husband although I of course had no idea at that time (the realisation didn’t take too long, though, since we were engaged before Christmas 2001).
During the day, the holiday was like any other European beach holiday – we sunbathed, we slept (I think we were both fighting off colds) and we swam in the pool. Each evening though, the huge TV screen in the bar beneath our hot and tiny apartment which probably usually showed the latest R’n'B hit showed CNN’s 24 hour coverage. I can remember the incongruity of the garish Malia strip with its loud bars and cheap alcohol against the sombre news footage. It was the first time I can remember the 24 hours news cycle, watching the news over and over even though the real ‘news’ – the new information – was slow to filter through. We sipped on strawberry amaretto milkshakes while the predictions of casualties gradually fell. The initial expectation that tens of thousands dead was gradually adjusted to our relief. The contrasts of that holiday were remarkable – the compulsive viewing of the news, the languid baking in the sun, the drinking of terrible fishbowl cocktails (buy one, get two free – and they wonder why Brits abroad behave so badly…) and the inadvertent falling in love.
And so I think of where I am now, ten years on. My iPhone does not compare to the Virgin mobile which was my first mobile phone. It didn’t even have predictive text! The only internet connection I had then was at work – my new job in the City. Now we have superfast fibre optic broadband which we can access from any number of PCs and devices within the home. I was living in a room of a friend’s house and my so-called boyfriend couldn’t wait to be rid of me! And it’s true that the world is a more broken place with conflicts and terrorism still causing death and misery. But my little world has only got better: I have been married to ricardo for more than 8 years; we have a beautiful and hilarious daughter; we have a lovely house; I have discovered a creativity in me that I never knew existed; I have a whole bunch of amazing and inspiring friends and I have even reconnected with my old BFF. It has been quite a decade.
