9-11: Phone Calls From the Tower

Credit: tvthrong.co.uk

In an effort to polish my mind, I had dedicated a couple of hours today to watching a documentary titled, “9-11: Phone Calls From the Tower”. Released in 2009, the 90-minute production centred around the voice recordings that were left behind by some of the victims who perished in the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001.

Directed by James Kent and produced by Darlow Smithson Productions for Channel 4, the documentary combined heart-felt interviews with the victims’ loved ones along with the victims’ voice recordings that were immortalized on answering machines, voice mail and 911 calls from that fateful day.

Credit: vcdq.com

By showing home videos, photographs and old home movies with each interview, I felt as if I were listening to a collection of sad songs, each with their own unique lyrics, but they all shared a common refrain:

Your absence has left a hole in my heart

You meant the world to me

You will never be forgotten

I will love you forever

While each interview was poignant and extremely moving, the one interviewee that made the most lasting impression on me was Anne Mulderry. Her son Stephen, a trader and former collegiate basketball star, was killed when the towers had collapsed. Through her poise, choice of words and even her surroundings, she exuded a level of wisdom and insight that reflected her choice to celebrate Stephen’s memory rather than dwell on the pain caused by his absence.

Credit: timesunion.com

We tend to lose sight of our own mortality and quite often put off saying and/or doing things that we ought to do today. As one of the interviewees had so aptly put it, “You never know when it’s going to be your last day”.

More than anything else, this documentary is a vivid reminder of that adage that nothing and no one should ever be taken for granted.

Click the following link to watch it on-line (Canadian residents only): 

http://www.cbc.ca/passionateeye/