| Author | Message | ||
     Hank Zona Supporter Username: Hankzona Post Number: 3075 Registered: 3-2002 |
Hello...thanks for reading. Someone in town said to me yesterday that I ought to have a blog (in part because he said his wife quoted me twice in a week). I laughed at the time, but tend to respect this person's opinion, so I figured, why not? So here goes.... Hi, Im Hank Zona..this is my blog. More to follow, perhaps. | ||
| Duncan Supporter Username: Duncanrogers Post Number: 4311 Registered: 12-2001  |
Auspicious beginning Hank. Now for the crucial questions What is in your CD player right now? What Ben and Jerry's flavor is your fave? What job would you do if you could do any job out there? What movie literally changed your perspective on something? Name a transcendent moment in your life. (you can skip this one, some people have tons, others none) | ||
| greenetree Supporter Username: Greenetree Post Number: 4309 Registered: 5-2001  |
Duncan- We have new standards now: Who is buried in your back yard?  Welcome, Hank, to the wonderful world of oversharing! | ||
| shh Citizen Username: Shh Post Number: 2482 Registered: 5-2001 |
Other questions... are you wearing anything red? does your spouse give you undergarments of any kind for special occasions? do you like broccoli rabe? I think I know the answer to all three, but stay tuned dear readers. | ||
| Duncan Supporter Username: Duncanrogers Post Number: 4312 Registered: 12-2001 |
Silly me. Ok, I'll go first. Buried in my backyard is the dream of ever being able to afford to move again. | ||
| Hank Zona Supporter Username: Hankzona Post Number: 3089 Registered: 3-2002 |
Duncan...thank you for the Leonard Lopate-type welcome. CD Player...a mixed song CD I burned; Let It Be Naked; 1000 Years of Popular Music - Richard Thompson; The Thorns; The Firebird Suite B&J Flavor...Im enjoying Pistachio Pistachio but Chunky Monkey is a perennial fave. If I could do any job...centerfield for the NY Yankees perspective changing movie...hmmm...first one that comes to mind...Buena Vista Social Club...Life and Times of Hank Greenberg too. Transcendent moments...my high school choice; my college choice; my spousal choice (a mutual choice of course); parental choice. I guess alot of life comes down to choice (and timing). Greenetree...thanks for the welcome. I think since he was never found, perhaps Jimmy Hoffa is buried in my yard. Definitely a few goldfish. Not Grant since he's buried in Grant's Tomb. And with 13 years of gardening and re-working the soil...lots and lots of rocks of all sizes (Welcome to Maplewood indeed). shh...I am not wearing any red today. My son wanted to get me these red boxers with penguins on them for Christmas. My wife purchased them so indirectly, she got them for me. Other than that, I buy all my own undergarments (which puts me in the minority since I believe most men's underwear is purchased by women). And I love broccoli rabe...I have a couple of bunches in the refrigerator in fact...think I'll make it tonight. By the way, shh, I asked Mr. shh last night at basketball if he got a facial on vacation since his skin looked so good and his head was especially shiny. | ||
| shh Citizen Username: Shh Post Number: 2483 Registered: 5-2001 |
 Yeah, that head does glisten doesn't it. He didn't mention that you asked. Did he get teased or did you do it in private?  Now that I think of it, our family (besides the socks) does have a history of buying underwear for each other. My mom always gets Mr. Shh undies, but luckily we all feel pretty comfortable about that. Duncan, I like what's buried in your yard...I think the same is in mine. (Plus Tamago, our late parakeet, and Bob, the guppy.) I discovered this week that Trader Joe's sells broccoli rabe prewashed and cut (like the prewashed mixed greens). I bought a bag but haven't tried it yet. Thanks for starting the Blog, now I can know all sorts of fun facts about you. | ||
| Hank Zona Supporter Username: Hankzona Post Number: 3152 Registered: 3-2002 |
I normally would have posted this in the Sports Section but now that I am a blogger (to what ever extent I am one), this might be a good place to write about this. I am not a rabid tennis fan. I play every now and then but end up being the guy who does all the running around while my opponent seems to have their feet planted returning shots at ease. I do know who the major players are and know Andy Roddick is the pre-eminent male tennis player (I also know its the women's game that has the majority of the press these days too). More on Andy Roddick in a moment. I like sports too...and I participate in a number of them. I think one learns alot about someone's character very quickly through sports on whatever playing surface you are competing (as an interesting aside, one of the people involved in the parking lot fight incident highlighted in another thread somewhere now is someone I have crossed paths with on the basketball court). I have met people everywhere I have lived through sports, usually playing basketball. One of the more interesting people I ever met was John Sayles, the filmmaker, while playing regularly at the Hoboken Y. He was fair...and tough. I have even met some local elected officials on the basketball court...before I knew much about them politically, I formed positive opinions of them by how they conducted themselves on the court. It seemed to make sense that the first playgroup my wife was involved in in Maplewood was comprised of the wives and children of a group of guys I played basketball with. It was easy to like them and talk well of them not because of how well they played, but how they carried themselves. Sports are not a metaphor of life, but a slice of life. And as abhorrent as professional and college sports can be in many respects, occasionally, you come across an athlete or a scenario that doesn't have you shaking your head in disgust. It does however make you shake your head in wonder because it is a story that happens so infrequently that it actually makes news. This is what I read about Andy Roddick, to make my point... " Andy Roddick is already known as the premier American men's tennis player in the world with a U.S. Open title to his credit. But Roddick did something last week that is almost unheard of in sports. He told the truth. He corrected an official's call . . . that had gone in HIS favor. And because he did that, it cost him a victory. In case you missed it, it happened during a third-round match at the Rome Masters in Italy. It was match point, and Roddick's opponent, Spain's Fernando Verdasco, hit a second serve that was called out by a linesman. The umpire announced Roddick the winner and the crowd applauded. But wait. Roddick thought the ball was in and since it was a clay court, he walked up and pointed to the mark the ball made. The umpire agreed and reversed the call, giving the point to Verdasco. From there, everything suddenly went in the Spaniard's favor. He came back to win the second set in a tiebreaker, then won the third set 6-4 and the match. Roddick shrugged off his honest act afterward, saying, "I don't think I did anything extraordinary. I went up and checked . . . and saw that it was in." Some might argue that Roddick wouldn't have been so honest if he hadn't been up 5-3 and 40-love in the second set of a three-set match. Perhaps. The fact is, he did what he did, and the result was a sure victory turning into a defeat. It's always inspiring to see honesty prevail in today's world where such acts are the exception rather than the norm. What made Roddick's act especially refreshing was that it happened in the world of sports, where the main attitude seems to be to try to get away with whatever you can." I think next I will post something I wrote after Joe DiMaggio died. He was hero to my father and many of his generation, although not necessarily a heroic figure through and through. When he died, it gave me some perspective on the role of sports and our perceptions of heroes and role models. | ||
| wendy Supporter Username: Wendy Post Number: 933 Registered: 5-2001 |
What an auspicious start to blogging Hank. I like it. Now please give me easy recipes for broccali rabe. Love the Roddick story. I need to show it to my son. He played a baseball game last night and got on first (hard hit ball but got on through a fielding error). He stole second and certainly looked like he beat the tag. The ump called safe (one ump; call made behind the plate) and the pitcher said loudly he missed the bag. My son eventually scored and came up to the fence to tell me that he missed the bag by a mile. I thought about what to say in this instance. Here's what I said. Sometimes the calls go for you; sometimes against you. Make sure when you're laying down the tag (he normally plays SS) and the play is called safe and you know he was out, you let it go and forget about it. I certainly think tennis calls are different. What do you think I should have done/said? This is 7th through 9th graders playing, btw, in case it matters. | ||
| Hank Zona Supporter Username: Hankzona Post Number: 3162 Registered: 3-2002 |
As requested: Easiest way to prepare broccoli rabe...steam or boil. Serve hot or cold...with a drizzle of good olive oil...with some crushed red pepper flakes and/or grated cheese. To me, the classic way to serve it is mixed with macaroni (penne or ziti works well), Italian sausage (some recipes remove the sausage from the casing, I like to grill it then slice it in rounds), olive oil, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste. Get some crusty Italian bread and nice drinkable red wine (chianti would go nicely, I enjoyed an excellent Barbera last night or since the dish has roots in Southern Italy, any good southern Italian wine would go well). Buon Appetito! | ||
| Hank Zona Supporter Username: Hankzona Post Number: 3163 Registered: 3-2002 |
The Baseball Ethicist (?) Wendy, to answer your question about the stolen base incident...I think if he told the umpire he was really out, the umpire wouldnt have known what to do. Plays do stand once the next pitch is thrown and I suppose all calls like that are judgement calls, no matter how clear or unclear they are. Many times, a player isnt sure if they are safe or out, or could they clearly tell. If the call wasnt protested by a coach or if there wasnt another umpire to help with the call, there isnt much more to do but play on. I think your answer is a good one...it is probably a good time to explain that calls are judgements and sometimes they dont go your way and to take them as a part of the game and to realize the person umpiring doesnt always have an easy or enviable job. Maybe, just maybe some day your son will surprise an umpire. | ||
| wendy Supporter Username: Wendy Post Number: 938 Registered: 5-2001 |
Thanks for rabe advice and thanks Randy uh Hank for the baseball comments. Maybe he will suprise an umpire one day. He actually has been umping himself and so is becoming even more aware of these things. I wonder what his own coach would have told him to do? A great coach, competitive but fair. I assume you're coaching your kids. How's that going? | ||
| Hank Zona Supporter Username: Hankzona Post Number: 3174 Registered: 3-2002 |
Coaching Kids (since wendy asked)... Coaching is one of the things I enjoy most. Its a connection with my own kids and other kids. Its a connection with my past when my father coached me and plenty of other kids, long before I was born. It increases my appreciation of teachers, because coaches are teaching, and they are teaching kids of all levels and aptitude...not everyone is Level 4 in class or on the ballfield. Kids all learn at different rates too. I suppose the one difference is, as kids get older, you mostly coach kids who get it..who have a certain level of aptitude, or the levels of aptitude fall within a narrower range. The true challenge of a teacher is when the aptitude levels potentially widen among a group of kids as they get older. This year I am coaching a girls' 3rd to 5th grade softball team with two great guys I coached with last year. I am not coaching my son's team because I can't be in two places at once. It is a pleasure coaching girls in this age bracket because the ones that sign up to play want to be there. One of my sayings this year is...I love girls who listen. They do listen and absorb and you notice real improvement over the weeks, sometimes even immediately. I used to think to some extent it was glorified baby-sitting, but alot of parents are interested and involved in different ways and you have to try to involve them as well too. It is great to see parents supporting their kids in more active ways whenever they possibly can...seeking out appropriate equipment, attending clinics, even trying to have a catch with them at home...not just giving them moral support (which I am not diminishing..its vital too). As a coach, it's interesting to try and strike balances...between having fun and learning and pushing kids to improve...between learning to play to win and learning to play fairly and as a member of a team...between developing kids who dont have the foundation and preparing kids for the next level of competition. A good friend once said, sports hurt, physically and psychologically, and as kids climb the competitive ladder, they need to understand and interpret and be able to deal with that. They also have to have fun and be realistic. Hardly any kid will earn a living playing a sport professionally. Some though can possibly pay for all or part of their education if they are good (my brother was a fortunately talented athlete in that regard). Most though need to learn that its fun and healthy to play a sport, try your best to perform and improve and compete. It's interesting to hear some people's philosophies. "Our towns are too PC and people dont believe in winning and losing." I disagree with that observation. Sure some folks may have that attitude, but I think most folks are reasonable and realistic. Some people say "some folks are too competitive and hard-core." And sure, some of that exists everywhere, but again, most people are reasonable and realistic. Being organized is not being too competitive. Having set expectations is not being hard core. Pushing kids a little in appropriate ways, depending on their ages, is not too intense. Placing emphasis at earlier ages on following rules, being part of a team with players of all skill levels, learning fundamentals, having fun, respecting other teams as opposed to winning is not holding kids back and isnt being PC either. We sometimes make kids uncoachable before they even play at a competitive level with real coaches, not parent volunteers. Another thing I am excited about this year is being one of the co-commissioners of the Maplewood South Orange girls softball program, once again, along with two great, highly involved and dedicated folks. The Cal Ripken program is a force of nature, a well-oiled machine with 1200 participants...it got that way with alot of hard work and cooperation and volunteerism. This year, a group of parents along with the Rec Department really stepped up to re-organize and re-invigorate the girls program from K through 8th grade. Alot of work has been done and there is alot more still, but in the middle grades, participation is up 50% from last year and work is being done weekly to make immediate improvements and maintain a real blueprint for next year already. I give alot of credit to program that the Cal Ripken folks have built...I doubt the girls softball will ever be as big in numbers, but its gratifying to see good things happening for the girls and the foundation in place for it to be even better. So thats how its going this year..so far. | ||
| sbenois Supporter Username: Sbenois Post Number: 13570 Registered: 10-2001  |
My general rule on blown calls is this: if it's a blown judgement call, I accept the umpire's decision for they ususally are giving it their best, they're not professionals, and it's too hard to see the field with only one ump. On the other hand, if the call is blown becuase of a rule being misinterpreted, I will say something to the umpire. | ||
| Hank Zona Supporter Username: Hankzona Post Number: 3194 Registered: 3-2002 |
This is one of the first things I ever wrote and posted in an on-line community. I wrote it when Jo DiMaggio died, not because he affected me profoundly, but because he affected my father profoundly, who in turn affected me so much more. I have re-read it a few times since...after September 11, after my father died, and now any time the subject of role models and heroism becomes a topic, or maybe when I think about baseball, and springtime and my father... Thoughts on DiMaggio At a time in this city's history, Joe DiMaggio transcended the sports world. I am sad for my father today because after speaking with him, I can tell he is sad. His hero died this morning...and although its a foregone conclusion for all of us to go some day and a foregone conclusion that DiMaggio would go soon (even barring the nitwits at NBC who mistakenly ran a newsticker months ago telling of his death), perhaps it stirred all sorts of feelings in my father and many others this morning when the radio and TV started announcing that DiMaggio had died. My dad is the son of Italian immigrants, a group that didnt have wide open acceptance in the DiMaggio Era except in its own growing communities, and a group, like others, that was dirt poor (and probably didnt even know it) during the Depression and the War. Joe DiMaggio was a hero to many growing up, sports fans, kids of all backgrounds, but I believe especially to Italians. He was a study in grace and acumen when he played, a gentleman, a quiet, private man, someone who never showed emotion, cool in all situations. I suppose if he played today, he wouldnt be as idolized. The press would bash him for being stand-offish, or theyd have tracked him down 24 hours a day with camera crews while he courted Marilyn Monroe, or someone would be given some sort of incentive to give the real inside story about him. He rarely socialized with his teammates, had become known to be strongly protective of his public image and notoriously cheap (yes, Ive heard the stories of the "tell-all" book thats been written and am sure will be rushed to print now). The realist (or is it the cynic?) in me says that he was human, like any other sports idol, but his impact in his era was so much different. Not many of us are old enough to know what that real impact of DiMaggio was like.( I suppose its why many people not in my father's generation had alot of negative feelings when Rudy wanted to re-name the West Side Highway after DiMaggio.) In "The Summer of '49", David Halberstam describes what post WWII NYC was like, especially the impact of the newspapers, the world of sports, the birth of the influence of television on sports. And DiMaggio was at the center of it...he was beloved. Although it is an arguable distinction, he was voted as the "greatest living player" during baseball's centennial season (yes perhaps Willie Mays deserved the accolade, but he was still active at the time), and he was without argument one of the few true legends of the game. Even with doing a stint in WWII then returning to baseball, his achievements and statistics were most impressive. But perhaps what I am thinking today has nothing to do with statistics. Joe DiMaggio was a hero. In a time when we have no heroes among world leaders, athletes, politicians, businesspeople, performing artists, Joe DiMaggio was a hero to many, and remains a hero through today. As my father said, DiMaggio made Italians proud at a time when they were still getting kicked around...and I am sure many others felt a similar kinship. There are going to be plenty of DiMaggio stories bandied about the next few days...how the time Mickey Mantle didnt run out a play and when he came back to the dugout, DiMaggio didnt say a word, but just showed him a look of disgust, which was enough for Mantle to feel awful...or the time when Marilyn Monroe went on and on about how the crowds loved and cheered for her, and she said, Oh Joe, you just dont know how great it feels, to which DiMaggio replied, yes I do. I will probably not care about what the "celebrities" have to say about DiMaggio, it will be what my father and his peers, of any ethnicity or race, have to say about him. Because I will never know that sort of impact that a public figure/"hero" can have on me ever, nor will my children, but I could hear it in my father's memories this morning, and will hear it many times over from others the next number of days. Part of me says thats good, especially because to me, my father is my true hero for many reasons and heroism exists more frequently and more impressively in every day people and famous people shouldnt be canonized. But part of me also is a little wistful about that as well, because maybe its in having my own children now that I have seen that innocence and idealism and diminished cynicism arent always such bad things after all. | ||
| Duncan Supporter Username: Duncanrogers Post Number: 4356 Registered: 12-2001 |
Hank that rocks. From the Times Op Ed on March 9
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| wendy Supporter Username: Wendy Post Number: 951 Registered: 5-2001 |
Hank and Duncan, The tears started forming with the former post and dropped while finishing up the latter. Thanks. Carry on. | ||
| bets Supporter Username: Bets Post Number: 1465 Registered: 6-2001  |
Wow. Both beautiful reads. Thank you, Hank and Duncan. | ||
| chroma Citizen Username: Chroma Post Number: 6 Registered: 3-2005 |
Hank, To the same broccoli rabe recipe that you use, I add romano cheese. Yum. | ||
| max_weisenfeld Citizen Username: Max_weisenfeld Post Number: 3 Registered: 9-2001 |
On the subject of broccoli rabe: Sautee in good olive oil with garlic grill a portabello mushroom cap serve on a roll with a slice of manchego or romano Yum! | ||
| Dave Supporter Username: Dave Post Number: 6395 Registered: 4-1997  |
Seem to be veering away from an emotional moment, so allow me to continue that drift by posting this link to Larry David's first blog entry ever. | ||
| Hank Zona Supporter Username: Hankzona Post Number: 3272 Registered: 3-2002 |
Max, thanks for inspiring me...welcome to my blog. I like your handle, by the way. Been using it for awhile? Dave, does the link to the Larry David entry mean I am also linked to the Huffington site? | ||
| Hank Zona Supporter Username: Hankzona Post Number: 3276 Registered: 3-2002 |
some of you folks want broccoli rabe...OK, then youre going to get it... Hank Zona's Somewhat Definitive Blog Entry On Broccoli Rabe  In the course of my research to support my broccoli rabe musings, I learned why broccoli turns pale green/grey and mushy when overcooked...but more on that later. According to Arthur Schwartz in his "Naples at Table" (and why isnt it "At Naples Table" or "Naples At The Table", Arthur?), the Neapolitans love for broccoli of any sort is beyond our comprehension (not totally beyond mine since some of my father's family emigrated from Naples -- and Bari -- so I sort of know). From fall until early spring, Campanians (not campaigners) eat broccoli rabe almost every day. The broccoli we are all mostly familiar with and that George Bush Sr. has great disdain for is rarely found there. Broccoli rabe, or rapini, or cime de broccoli or Chinese broccoli, as it is known in some circles, is a cousin the the stuff we usually see. It is unheard of to eat sausage or bracciole or even meatballs without a side of rabe. It is also a mainstay in minestra, the principal soup of the region and often paired with pasta, especially orrechiette. Schwartz makes another interesting point when discussing how it is cooked...there is a stereotype that in the world that Neapolitan food is heavy handed with garlic, when in fact, the opposite is true (my own Italian grandmother and my wife's Italian grandmother used it sparingly in fact). When sauteeing broccoli rabe in Southern Italy, it is likely most cooks would brown the garlic in the oil then remove it before adding the vegetable. Even in an Italian cookbook from 1839, the author says to remove the garlic when the broccoli is half cooked (he also recommends adding six anchovy filets to the oil and garlic and only adding the rabe when the filets have liquified). I have a theory on this heavier domestic use of garlic. We are used to it, and expect it, and it is the sort of taste we get desensitized to so its use keeps getting ratcheted up. I also think in alot of prepared/frozen/fast foods, garlic and onion is often heavily used to give more taste to lesser quality and/or less fresh product. Anyhow, back to rabe. Cook's Illustrated "The New Best Recipe" found in their testing that blanching rabe in 3 quarts of water to every pound of rabe took out the bitterness best while retaining the complex peppery, mustardy flavor. In fact, steaming took out none of the typical bitterness at all. They added that if you like bitterness, use less water and of course, shock the rabe in cool water to stop the cooking process. (Speaking of the cooking process...broccoli turns olive green because lengthy cooking breaks down the chlorophyll, and also releases acids in the broccoli that also furthers breaking down the chlorophyll.) Cooks Illustrated also suggests trimming the lower inch of the stems before cooking. After cooking, it can be dressed with a vinaigrette or sauteed. The one really good looking recipe was sauteeing with red peppers and oregano then adding feta. They also included a recipe for rabe with Asian flavors, since the strong taste complements those as well, sauteeing it in a mixture of soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, peanut oil, ginger, garlic, sugar and red pepper flakes. Broccoli rabe is not something I must have when its in season...but to me, its one of those smaller connections to the past, a sliver of my family's heritage....not on the size and emotional scale of baseball, but it brings back some good memories, and it does taste good when its done right. | ||
| Dave Supporter Username: Dave Post Number: 6422 Registered: 4-1997 |
Best broccoli rabe in a local restaurant: hands-down it's China Gourmet in West Orange. Find it on the menu as broccoli in oyster sauce. Add any seafood dish and a Qingdao beer and you're set. | ||
| Hank Zona Supporter Username: Hankzona Post Number: 3967 Registered: 3-2002 |
I wrote this a few years ago...then dusted it off last year...then in light of discussing the tragic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, pulled it out again. Just a compilation of thoughts and recollections. What strikes me today in the wake of Katrina is that so many of us never understand the scope of tragedies...the real scope of Oklahoma City, the tsunami, Katrina, and yes, the scpe of Sept. 11 which I believe is lost in part on many people not from around here... I remember September 10, 2001...it was a glorious day, and I had meetings downtown. Walking back to the ferry, I passed through the Trade Center, running into two guys I knew from different times of my life, both of them co-workers now working in the WTC. We stopped and talked for 20 minutes right outside Tower 1. They said to come back in the following week and we'd all have lunch together. I remember looking up at the length of the tower to the brilliant sky, and thought to myself that although man-made, it was a great sight. The next morning in my home office, I heard the news on the radio. I ran to the TV to see what was happening. I have worked most of my career downtown, walked through and past this area daily for years. I turned on the TV just as the second plane was hitting. Having worked downtown for so many years, having grown up in Staten Island, I couldnt even begin to think of the people I knew from all parts of my life who were not only downtown but in the towers. I was in tears when the first tower came down. A large part of my reaction was due to the fact that my brother is a NYC fireman. I knew he wasnt on duty that morning, but I realized once the second plane hit what an almost impossible job he and his colleagues would have. And although off duty, he was at the site by 11AM. He was always a hero to us...anyone who chooses a career of running into fires and saving people because "thats what we do" is a hero...but the hell he and so many others lived through for not just those hours but months after is something I will never comprehend. My parents heard from my brother briefly that night, then not again until late Thursday night He assured them he was fine and that he was spending most of his time working out of his station house. In fact, he was at the site almost around the clock until Saturday morning, when he came home for the first time. We drove over to be there. I told my kids, who were 6 and 4 at the time and aware of what happened, but who we shielded from watching footage on TV, that Uncle Mike needed alot of love. We drove over the Goethals Bridge Saturday morning, and I was shocked to only see the plume of smoke where the Towers had stood. We got to my parents' home and they seemed older. They had many friends who lost children, they feared for my brother's well-being, they had lived through a Depression and wars and never expected to see something like this in their lifetimes. The previous few days, emotionally wrought and confusing to all, had plenty of sorrow, but also plenty of good news. Friends from all over the country called and emailed, some who I had not heard from in ages, to ask if I was downtown, knowing I had my office there for years, asking if my brother was OK, asking if friends from college were OK, asking me to ask my brother who they can make donations to. I remember calling the home of a close college friend who worked in the Towers the night of September 11. A few other friends were afraid to make the call...I was too, but felt someone had to call. His wife answered the phone saying it was the worst day of her life, and my breathing stopped until she said her husband had gotten out and was one block away when his Tower fell, and he kept walking all the way home to Manhasset. I remember the relief over the next number of days calling to ascertain that other friends and business associates and contacts made it out, or never made it in for whatever quirk of fate. I will always remember gratefully that there were more of those stories, although unfortunately, not enough of those stories. One of the worst calls I took was a close friend asking me to ask my brother what the chances were that his brother in law was still alive. When my brother finally got home that Saturday morning, we werent prepared to see what we did. An incredibly strong physical presence, he was beat up, drained. When my kids crawled into his lap, he smiled for the first time since Tuesday I think. They really helped him be at ease for a brief time. He told me he wanted to talk to me about what he had been through, and never wanted to talk about it again. He told me my friend's brother in law was almost certainly not alive. He had been at the site almost around the clock. He rattled off names of people we knew and grew up with on the FD and PD who were dead. He told me about a former basketball teammate of mine who was the only survivor of his whole unit, one of the first to respond. He told me there was nothing but rubble...there were no desks and files and computers...so much of everything had been pulverized. We left him eventually to get whatever rest he could and to be alone with his pregnant wife and baby son. Driving down the Staten Island Expressway back to NJ, we passed along side flatbed truck after flatbed truck already bringing long twisted steel beams to the Fresh Kills Landfill. I did all I could to not be alongside any of them. Back that afternoon, I took the kids to the playground at Memorial Park. It was another beautiful day but the playground was mostly empty. A woman I knew walked up to me as our kids played and she was distraught and asked, "what are we all going to do? how are we all going to go on?". I pointed to her kids and my kids and I said, "thats how and thats why...we really have no choice and no better reason." I also remember my first trip downtown, just a few weeks after, for a meeting with a client. I saw things I never could have seen because of the prominence of towers on the skyline and one's sightline. I remember being angry...angry about what happened...angry about the numerous tourists smiling and laughing and posing for pictures with the wreckage in the background. I wanted to grab someone's camera and smash it, except for the fact there were so many cameras to grab, so many people to tell to stop enjoying themselves. It seemed to me that they were enjoying themselves too soon, too close to hallowed ground. It still feels hallowed today when I walk through there. The week after 9/11, I went to a wake of a fireman whose body had been recovered. His parents and my parents grew up together. We played ball with his brothers, his sister was a good friend growing up. A family with four brothers, three were city firemen, one a policeman. It was his first shift back from his honeymoon and he was about to head home but when the alarm came in, he jumped back on the rig. He died a couple of hours later. At the wake, one of the brothers came up to me and asked me how my brother was. I said, "he seems OK, but really, youre the ones we're more concerned about..it was your brother who died". He replied, "no, he helped us look for my brother's body and we were all a mess". They are words I wont ever forget and hope to never have to hear again. The next summer, my brother had organized a firehouse outing to see the Staten Island Yankees. It also happened to be the night a neighborhood group was honoring the fireman who had died. I stood with the father and sister before the game, and the father was telling me he wasnt sure he'd be able to take it when they showed the video tribute to his son. The tribute came on as we were talking, and I realized again the shock of the tragedy ten months before compounded the grief. The sadness was again profound. During the game, I was sitting behind two firemen wearing the same tshirt. The tshirt had a picture of two firemen walking into the smoke and rubble with the words from the Bible, "Ye though I walk into the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil". My brother then pointed to the picture and told me the fireman on the left was the one being honored that night. That for whatever reason, another fireman from his house grabbed a camera from a passerby and took the picture and that it was five minutes before one of the towers collapsed, killing the two firemen in the picture. As I wrote, my parents had many friends who lost children in this tragedy. Parents never expect to out-live their own children. One of my father's best friends lost his son who happened to live in Millburn. I took my father and uncle to the memorial service at St. Rose of Lima and when I saw many people I knew from Maplewood in the parking lot, it made me realize how this tragedy crossed over and intersected everyone's lives in our area. One of the largest metropolitan areas in the world was reduced to a very small community. I also remember that when my father died a little more than a year later, it tore me up when his friends who lost their sons and daughters on September 11 came to pay their respects and offer their condolences to us. My father's death replaced what had been the saddest event in my life with an even greater saddest event in my life to date. But I suppose the perspective I gained from the one wide ranging tragedy helped me better handle the more painful and more specific tragedy I experienced fourteen months later. Try to do what you can to really live your life, try to do what you can to make your community and the world a better place. Mostly though, I was grateful to have my own family, my children...they once again put everything in perspective...they were the positive distraction, they provided me with necessary focus, they gave me the perfect reason why we ought to carry on -- very simply, theres no other choice and no better reason. | ||
| buzzsaw Citizen Username: Buzzsaw Post Number: 2610 Registered: 5-2001  |
Hey Hank. That is one of the most honest and emotional couple of paragraphs I have ever read. Thanks for sharing. Reading thins, I can tell we both had similar experiences. My father was a Port Authority Police Officer during that time. He retired in 2002. I pointed to her kids and my kids and I said, "thats how and thats why...we really have no choice and no better reason. God that is so true. I wish you and your family well Mr Hank Zona. | ||
| Duncan Supporter Username: Duncanrogers Post Number: 5428 Registered: 12-2001 |
HAPPY NEW YEAR | ||
| Hank Zona Supporter Username: Hankzona Post Number: 6226 Registered: 3-2002  |
I wrote a year ago today, my last entry in this section. It was my recollections of September 11, 2001. I will not re-write those thoughts which were complete and based on not only my memories but email exchanges I had saved. Instead I want to write about September 11, 2006. Five years is a long time, but it seems in some ways as if this tragedy happened yesterday. My brother is a fireman in NYC still, and he is on duty today, working a 24 (double shift from this morning until tomorrow morning). Although he doesnt seem to have the health issues many others have had, his physical health was certainly impacted during his many months working at the site -- it was clear to see that he was as ashen as the site itself appeared. And who knows what is in his body still lurking. He undoubtedly will carry mental effects, as would anyone who went through that experience up close for so long. I do not in any way mean to diminish the pain and suffering of those who had loved ones and friends and acquaintances and co-workers die that day, but only wish to point out that many others may be suffering in different, lasting ways from that day. I had a long talk with my brother on Saturday. Although he said he never wanted to speak about his experiences at the WTC again, I wanted to see how he was doing today since I felt that this year seemed different somehow. I asked him how he felt and he came right out and said that this anniversary has been the toughest for him (which may simply be a relative phrase anyway). The weather for a few days going into the weekend was very similar to that day, and the angle of the September sun is so distinct to begin with, that that feel in the air and in the sky had to be a contributing factor. Last week, as we know from the news, two NYC firemen died in the line of duty, and he attended both funerals, which stirred up strong memories of what seemed liked a months long procession of funerals and memorial services in between tours on duty downtown. And after we spoke, he was heading to a memorial Mass in New York for all the firefighters in his batallion who died, an event that is always emotionally charged for all of them. Finally, he talked about the media coverage and it's impact. How a gate seemed to have been opened up, how someone determined that it was OK to start airing more footage and discussing it more openly and making movies about it. He wasnt critical of that, and he also wasnt interested in partaking of it either, but the fact that it seemed to be more "out there" in a more acceptable manner made it tougher he thought. For a year, his firehouse had constant visitors thanking them and wishing them well, and it became difficult after awhile because they needed time to themselves to heal. Now it seems as if in some way that time has elapsed...as if the need and desire for many to tell the story or part of the story in whatever manner has superseded the need to keep it veiled, even if thinly. Some of it seems OK, some of it we agreed just seemed stupid or made no sense (like re-broadcasting the news coverage from that day). Perhaps though it is because just as the scope of Oklahoma City and New Orleans are incomprehensible to many of us who arent from there or didnt witness or experience those tragedies in some closer manner, what happened five years ago is more distantly removed for many people out there as well. Personally, the radio is off, the TV is off...why do I need to hear the sounds and see the images of that day when I dont even have to close my eyes to recall them? I turned the TV coverage off that afternoon five years ago and have not watched any coverage to this day except for part of the first anniversary memorial. My brother and his peers continue to do their jobs, even though they really arent much better equipped than they were five years ago this morning. That doesnt give a great sense of security unfortunately. As Tom Keane says, our country clearly has taken this seriously, but just not seriously enough. My brother certainly doesnt need to hear or see the coverage..I am sure it is more vivid to him and his peers than most anyone else and much more easily recollected. As I drove to visit my family Saturday, I noticed, as I always do, in my old neighborhood, how it seems as if every other block has been re-named for someone who died that day -- some people I grew up with, some people who lived there after I left. You see that in most neighborhoods if you drive around Staten Island, and other communities as well. They are constant reminders, not as dramatic or imposing as the WTC site itself, but felt nonetheless. These street signs bear names of people who are listed on the borough's 9-11 memorial that I visited last month. There wasnt another person at the memorial that day when I was there...that wont be the case today though I am sure. But that is OK because I preferred to recollect and remember quietly, alone. There is no one right way or one right time to commemorate the events and losses of that day as long as we make some effort to remember it. I have no reason to be critical of those who choose to commemorate the day in ways that I will choose not to...I am confident of the sincerity and real emotion most people have towards this tragic event and that most will not exploit it. But regardless of when we commemorate the day, or how we commemorate the day, or how often, it is our responsibility to not forget it. We also have a responsibility to continue to live our lives as fully and as well as we can, and to help those around us do the same and we share a responsibility to try to re-capture some semblance of the civility we all seemed to achieve in the aftermath of a barbaric tragedy five years ago. To me, that's a true lasting tribute. | ||
| Wendy Supporter Username: Wendy Post Number: 3112 Registered: 5-2001 |
Hank, thank you for writing and posting this and all of your previous blog entries. "semblance of the civility we all seemed to achieve...." Yes. |
