The early 2000’s were a definitive and tumultuous time for us as Americans, but they were also unsettling and scary for me as every day forward was another day further apart from my then-partner. We had shared so much and bonded over the worst thing to ever happen to either of us – the death of our ‘sister’ a few years earlier. It was exhausting trying to figure out a way to leave without ending the relationship. Crazy, right? Most people shut it off like a light switch or pull it off like a band-aid; not me. We’d had too much invested; there were too many common family and friends. Beautiful Day by U2, released at the end of 2000, is a song of celebration and hope for what we can achieve. I was able to relate to the hope, that he and I could salvage all the good parts of what we’d shared and maybe morph it into something else. Looking back, we actually pulled it off. And then the terror attacks of September 11th happened. Our nation was charged with fear, uncertainty and sorrow. And this song, still all over the airwaves, rang through with sounds of hope of what we all can achieve.
From the historical writing archive. Original date: November 7, 2015. Recovered from local source material; editorial review is still in progress.
