Monday, April 17, 2006
I guess I'm just not a huge believer in anniversaries. Not that I don’t mark the passing of time per se, it’s just that to me dates on the calendar don’t hold significance in that way. Is the tenth year more poignant than the eighth? How about even years, are they more important than odd?
Will I think of this group more on May 11 than say September 18? What I can say for sure is that the tragedy of 96 holds no relevance for me other than that it led me to the SJC. I have no emotional connection to any of the players I read about in Into Thin Air – in the same way I have no connection to the people on the Titanic, or Shackelton’s Endurance, beyond the story that they were involved in. Maybe I’ve become desensitized, but having been touched by real events I don’t feel the need to live them vicariously any more. Remembering the dead of 96 is not our place, that’s the sad realm of the families and friends who had their hearts ripped out – and quite frankly should be allowed to mark the event without the glare or influence of voyeurs. Maybe this is why Outside has decided to let the story go.
I have, in a manner of speaking turned the page on ITA, but I have not closed the book on what remains of this group. When I think of this group, I recall a weekend in June spent with PBob in Montana, numerous phonecalls with CSTerry, meeting the Seattle contingent, whose laughter still echoes in my head, and a former poster who passed along a message that quite literally changed my life. And along those lines, I thought that the photo email at Christmas was a brilliant display of what this group is about.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Will I think of this group more on May 11 than say September 18? What I can say for sure is that the tragedy of 96 holds no relevance for me other than that it led me to the SJC. I have no emotional connection to any of the players I read about in Into Thin Air – in the same way I have no connection to the people on the Titanic, or Shackelton’s Endurance, beyond the story that they were involved in. Maybe I’ve become desensitized, but having been touched by real events I don’t feel the need to live them vicariously any more. Remembering the dead of 96 is not our place, that’s the sad realm of the families and friends who had their hearts ripped out – and quite frankly should be allowed to mark the event without the glare or influence of voyeurs. Maybe this is why Outside has decided to let the story go.
I have, in a manner of speaking turned the page on ITA, but I have not closed the book on what remains of this group. When I think of this group, I recall a weekend in June spent with PBob in Montana, numerous phonecalls with CSTerry, meeting the Seattle contingent, whose laughter still echoes in my head, and a former poster who passed along a message that quite literally changed my life. And along those lines, I thought that the photo email at Christmas was a brilliant display of what this group is about.
Nothing more, nothing less.
