Coping Since Sept. 11
NPR Listeners Reflect on Life After National Tragedy

Lynn Lewis

I'll preface my remarks by saying that my husband has been out of work since last October (one year). We owe so much in family loans that it's hard to see above the imaginary pile of debt-dollars. My salary puts food on the table, pays the rent, pays the bills (usually late) and so far has kept my stepdaughter in college. At least through December of this year.

The economy was bad before the Sept. 11 attacks. It's taken a nosedive since then. What do you think the prospects for my husband are now? Will my bright and ambitious stepdaughter finish her freshman year in Boston or be working at CVS? Will we be living in this rented house come 2002 or seeking for parental generosity at age 40 and 43? Will we ever get to start saving for retirement or be digging out from debt until we're 95?

No, I'm not hoarding Cipro. I'm not stocking up on water and food supplies. And my husband can't afford the plane ticket to hug his daughter.

I suppose that our lives haven't changed much since 9/11/01 except that the gray has gotten grayer.

Thanks for the opportunity to share my coping 'skills' with you.

Lynn Lewis
Irvine, Calif.

Return to the index | Read the next letter