Business of LifeWith a thought to Marcus Aurelius who wrote in the second century, "The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it," don't miss The Eleventh of Never by Paul Vitello in Sunday's New York Times.
Among the few certain truths of Sept. 11, 2001, is one that applies to every day that dawns. That there is no guarantee of tomorrow, or the next five minutes. This is the central provision of all contracts between people and their lives. No plans, large or small, are exempt.
The impact of 9/11 on the world's large plans has been well documented. Its impact on the smaller ones has been chronicled mainly and rightfully in the stories of those who died or witnessed the terror attacks up close, physically and emotionally.
But what about the rest of the many millions whose relatively small plans for an ordinary Tuesday were bent or swallowed completely that day, like light waves passing too close to a black hole?
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There are millions of such people, at the same time deeply affected and only tangentially touched by the terror attacks, who can instinctively conjure the outlines of that lost day.