Message #322419

[MsRowdyRedhead]

From my friend Jim Stigall  NetDevil/LEGO Lead Concept Artist ...

Jim Beastoh Stigall

I am a city boy. As far back as I can remember I have been fascinated with the hustle and bustle, the crowds and cars, the noise and the tall buildings. I remember as a small child, around the age of five perhaps, walking around downtown Denver with my parents, looking up at the skyscrapers, my Dad standing next to me hand-in-hand. "You know what? My Dad is taller than those TALL buildings downtow
n," I would tell my friends the next day. Perspective.

As a child of the 80's I was partially raised in front of the television, cable TV, and MTV - when it was good. I knew all about New York City thanks to the television. I was mesmerized by the idea of this city, remembering, at one point, my parents telling me how it was the largest city in the United States. At that age I couldn't fathom anything bigger than Denver and those skyscrapers that seemed so tall… as a matter of fact, around that time, I don't even know if I could make out the difference in my mind - perhaps thinking the city was 'The City,' you know? My Dad would say, "we are going downtown." Images of the Manhattan skyline would fill my head. MY Mom would say, "your great-grandmother lives off of Broadway (which, of course she did)." I would think of all the lights and theater signs from images of New York's Broadway, based on those I had seen on TV. At five-years-old it was all the same to me… and it was all very exciting!

I finally got to visit New York City for the very first time at the age of 32 years old - last November in fact - just a little over ten years after the events of September 11th, 2001. I'll never forget stepping out of the cab in Soho and feeling exactly what I expected to feel after all of those years of build-up and admiration. I fell in love instantly. I was in awe of the energy of the city, its density, and its heartbeat under my feet, courtesy of the NYC Subway system. I was there for less than 48 hours on this particular trip and got to see a very limited amount of Manhattan via foot and Subway. The first several hours of traipsing around Soho and Canal Street had my eyes and head continually a'shift, trying to take everything in. The first night was a whirl-wind.

On the second day I woke up and set out on my own… it was a Friday and the streets were bustling with people - New Yorkers. Of everything I got to experience on that short trip, I think it's the people that really stuck with me. I had little interaction with a select few people there, but the observation alone was what really stuck. Growing up I would always hear people say how New Yorkers were rude, brash - even mean. I did not get this at all… I felt a huge diversity of many, many people in one place. Nobody was rude, but what everyone did was mind their own business, and went about it as well as they could. However, I was taken back a couple of times by outright kindness in the streets. I'll always remember standing on the corner of Howard and Lafayette in Soho, messing with my iPhone looking for a local coffee spot to sit and sketch for a bit - I'm sure I looked like a lost tourist - and from behind me, in a distinct up Uptown accent I hear, "hey, bro, you need some help?" That doorman was as nice to me as anyone I had ever met in any part of the world I have visited, and he talked to me for a time about Denver and what I was doing in NYC. Of course, I couldn't get any better a suggestion for a coffee spot from him than, "well, there's a Starbucks right up the street about a block-and-a-half." And that was alright by me.

So, what am I rambling about here? American people - and especially New Yorkers as a symbol for the kind of people this country is all about. This is what we remember on September 11th. It doesn't matter what you believe politically (as we are most certainly in yet another ugly election year), nor does it matter your faith, or even what you believe regarding the people behind the September 11th attacks. Today we remember the people who got up everyday, went to work, and strived to make their lives, and the lives of their family and friends as happy and fruitful as they could while they had time on this planet. And beyond that, we remember and say thank you to those who selflessly help other people when they are in need of such help. People who put on a uniform and put themselves in harms way for others, inland and abroad. These everyday people are the real fabric of this country. Those lost, those still here. Us.

That can never be taken away from us - not by terror, nor by political struggle. Good people - everyday people - hard working people - make this country breath and preserver.

That is who I remember.

New York, I'm coming to see you soon.
Cool story, bro.