A pain that never goes away

WESTERN BUREAU:

The pain has not lessened 20 years later. It is just as intense. And Simone Mitchell and her son Julian Davis don’t envisage it will subside anytime soon.

Mitchell lost her fiancé, Clinton Davis in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001, and her son, Julian, who was nine at the time, was robbed of the opportunity for that precious father/son relationship that every child yearns for.

The woman who migrated from Jamaica at age 15 to the USA was very open about the impact that the anniversary event has on her and her family. It is always rough, she said, because they can’t escape the media attention that comes with the date.

For a lot of the families, whether it is the 20th anniversary, the 19th, 5th, the 2nd or the 3rd…it is the same pain.

They relive the ordeal over and over, every detail still vivid. To top it off, every year for the last 19 years, the 37 families of the ‘Brave 37’ Port Authority police officers, who sacrificed their lives so others could live, meet at the John F Kennedy Airport (JFK), where they are transported to Ground Zero for the memorial service.

Interspersed within the day’s activities are a non-denominational mass service and a dinner. It was the same this year.

“We typically meet at JFK at the police command. We are escorted via motorcade, which takes us into the city. If you want to go to Ground Zero, you can, otherwise it is the service in St Peter’s. And after that, we all go and break bread together,” she shared.

Weeks before September 11, and weeks after, Mitchell, her son and the rest of their family start experiencing the ordeal once again; and throughout the year reference is made of the fateful day by various media, which keeps the pain real.

Davis was 37 when he died, and he was a pretty good singer, said Julian, who penned and released a song titled ‘37’ in tribute to the group of fallen officers when he was 15 years old.

“I kind of talk about the day and just how it almost kind of felt surreal, how it wasn’t really happening, and how it happened so fast, but time started to slow down, and it happened really quickly, but took a long time to process, so that’s kind of what it is,” he shared about the song.

Now 29, married with a child of his own, Julian’s pain is a little different from his mom’s, particularly since becoming a father, he wishes his dad was around to answer questions he had or he could share experiences he now has with his daughter.

“I can’t really… I can’t do that. It’s a different kind of ache,” he expressed.

Every member of the family has the honour of reading Davis’ name at Ground Zero, during the annual memorial, and every year, Mitchell remembers the day she received the call from her sister, asking, “Did Clinton go to work today?” and she answered “yes” and was told to go turn on the television.

Mitchell kept calling the man she had lived with for many years, several times through the day, but his cellular phone just rang, and the authorities weren’t about to confirm whether he was alive or dead.

“We were just told everybody’s okay, they’re rescuing or doing what they have to do,” she recalled.

Mitchell and her family kept their hopes alive, but as time went by, it was obvious Davis was not coming home.

Today, the former British Airways sales agent, who later worked in the airport, does not believe enough was done to prevent another tragedy of that magnitude.

“The measures that were put in place seemed more like an inconvenience,” she noted.

However, the US Government and the American people, she said, delivered on the promises made to families. Her son was schooled at the New York University, under a special programme for children of the deceased by the State of New York.

The names of the fallen are read each year at a special ceremony and now their faces are in the 9/11 Museum.

Families are also allowed to visit the two pools that have the footprints and the towers reflected in them.

“It’s a nice, serene place that you can go to reflect,” stated Mitchell.

Now 51 years old, Mitchell says she has never thought of getting involved in another relationship. She, however, acknowledged that she hasn’t really given it much thought.

“But, you know, I can’t say no, never say never. If the right person were to come along, it’s possible,” she said.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com