NAOMI O. 2011

Naomi is the first person to participate in The Before Project in 2011 that had not previously participated. Naomi and I met in June 1990 when, as my "bus counselor," she was getting over a bad case of the chicken pox. We have since crossed paths several times, finding and losing each other in various cities. Most recently we became mothers around the same time in Los Angeles, CA. She blogs about motherhood here.

On September 10, 2001, I met my friend Katie for dinner after work. Katie and I knew each other from an acting class. Both of us were aspiring writers and comediennes, working to make ends meet by temping in the financial district. At some point, we both caved to rent and bills and took salaried/benefited positions (you know, just for now). She worked at Deutsche Bank, across the street from the World Trade Center, and I at Merrill Lynch, just west of the towers in the World Financial Center.

We often met in the plaza between Tower 1 and Tower 2 for lunch. We sat on benches, lamenting our miserable drone-like existences while eating out of plastic salad-bar containers. This particular evening was different. I was moving to Los Angeles, it was my last week at work, and probably the last meal that Katie and I would share together for a long time.

I have no recollection of where we ate, just that it was north of the Towers. I remember after dinner, we strolled back down empty Church street towards the subway. We gazed up at the quiet buildings, including the omnipresent Towers. Somehow, despite their enormity, they were extremely polite. We were close enough to see the lights inside on the first twenty to thirty floors. The September night air thawed my shoulders from eight hours of air-conditioning. My heart soared with love for New York. I was going to miss this place, a lot.

On September 10, 2011, I will attend a wedding with my husband and two sons in Santa Rosa, CA. I still live in Los Angeles, I'm not acting at the moment, and I've been a teacher, and I stay at home with my kids while I write.

Are these related? Well I suppose you could connect the dots. I am still in California ten years later, where I had planned to move. I continued with my plan even though I was more afraid to do so the next day.

I often wonder what might be different about my life had 9/11 not happened. For me, even though I think of that day frequently, it hasn't changed me or my path at all. Things might be different had I lost someone close to me, or if I had been even closer to the action (no, thank you), but again, hard to say for sure. What I can say is that there is a deep groove carved in my soul for 9/11 and the surrounding days, including and especially, The Day Before.