{"id":244560,"date":"2011-09-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-09-16T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/9-11-thoughts-memories-create-opportunity-for-hope-and-healing\/"},"modified":"2011-09-16T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-09-16T07:00:00","slug":"9-11-thoughts-memories-create-opportunity-for-hope-and-healing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/9-11-thoughts-memories-create-opportunity-for-hope-and-healing\/","title":{"rendered":"9\/11 thoughts, memories create opportunity for hope and healing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"9\/11<\/a>
Dale Sorenson (standing) addresses the crowd as Organist Robert Plimpton prepares to play at the Balboa Park Organ Pavilion. (Photo by Matthew Miller)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Matthew Miller |<\/strong> Reportero SDUN<\/p>\n

Arguably one of the biggest dots of the timeline of our lives, there is little debate that the short numerical phrase \u201c9\/11\u201d has become a term signifying flashpoint memories.<\/p>\n

Whether waxing politically or pondering the spiritual element of such a catastrophic loss, community members verbalized their wide and varied opinions during the 10-year Anniversary of September 11, 2001 at the \u201cRemembering 9-11-01\u201d concert at Balboa Park\u2019s Organ Pavilion.<\/p>\n

Organ Co-Curator Dale Sorenson kicked off the event by announcing to the crowd of hundreds, \u201cOur true memorial to September 11th is how we live our lives today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cortez Hill resident Ross Porter is the Executive Administrator of the Spreckels Organ Society, the non-profit responsible for maintaining the organ in the Pavilion. In addition to discussing the momentous concert that brought community members together, Porter expressed his own view of where this event has delivered us.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the immediate aftermath, I hoped we would pull together as a nation,\u201d he said. \u201cI think what we have seen is too much fear and rogue policy. I would like the country to think of the shared grieving not in terms of fear but in terms of hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a consummate music enthusiast, Porter said he hopes that ultimately we can all find a moment, such as those shared Sunday, that will make a difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope it will give people the mental space they need\u2026\u201d Porter said, \u201cthrough the transformative possibility of music as opposed to words, which can be loaded.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Marcela Mendez, lead singer for the local band HoneyRock, launched into the third chorus of her favorite patriotic song, she let the tears flow in memory of loss and in celebrating life.<\/p>\n

Mendez explained that while singing the Dixie Chicks\u2019s \u201cTraveling Soldier,\u201d she was thinking of Mary Tillman, wife of ex-NFL football player turned Army Ranger Pat Tillman, who was killed in action in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just thinking of her and countless other women and how [their loved ones] never come home,\u201d Mendez said.<\/p>\n

Mendez had particularly significant feelings Sunday due to special memories of a trip her family made to the Twin Towers when she was nine. \u201cI remember I had my head against the glass from the top floor and looking down, and to think that it is now gone is tough,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Though singing \u201cTraveling Soldier\u201d often causes strong emotions for Mendez, she explained that Sunday\u2019s performance and the memories associated with it were mixed. \u201cOn the one hand all of the loss makes me mad,\u201d she said, \u201cbut you just have to keep on living and hope that everything is okay.\u201d<\/p>\n

South Park resident Kaitlin Jaime said, \u201cWhen I really think about it, I guess I feel still pretty shocked by what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jaime was 15 years old when 9\/11 occurred and recalls the surreal nature of the moment when she first learned of the events of that morning. \u201cI just remember not believing it, thinking that it wasn\u2019t actually happening,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Robert Plimpton performed at the concert with traditional audience favorites intended to elicit \u201cpathos and heroism,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is not a sad concert, this is a celebration of the indestructibility of the human spirit,\u201d Plimpton said.<\/p>\n

Plimpton served for over 16 years as San Diego Civic Organist, beginning in 1984, and helped found the Spreckels Organ Society in 1988. As Civic Organist Emeritus, he returned to the Organ Pavilion for this special occasion.<\/p>\n

He said Sunday\u2019s procession was not a memorial, but a remembrance. \u201cIt is amazing to take music as not a retreat from reality but a retreat to reality,\u201d he said. \u201cPraying in beauty and grandeur always helps celebrate our nature.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Matthew Miller | SDUN Reporter Arguably one of the biggest dots of the timeline of our lives, there is little debate that the short numerical phrase \u201c9\/11\u201d has become a term signifying flashpoint memories. Whether waxing politically or pondering the spiritual element of such a catastrophic loss, community members verbalized their wide and varied […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":244558,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"9\/11 thoughts, memories create opportunity for hope and healing","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11551,11593,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-244560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-no-images","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}