Tuesday 16th October 2001
"See Rome and Die" was the incredulous comment with which Julie's brother teased her. Ordinarily it could be viewed as nothing worse than mischievous, if misplaced humour,
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Tuesday 16th October 2001 "See Rome and Die" was the incredulous comment with which Julie's brother teased her. Ordinarily it could be viewed as nothing worse than mischievous, if misplaced humour, |
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but with only a few short weeks since the tragedy of September 11th it was such an insensitive and stupid thing to say. Since the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, America has declared 'War on Terror', and Tony Blair has ensured British involvement in Afghanistan. Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban regime's response was threaten to attack the infidels with a "storm of planes". So as you can imagine, air travel at the moment is not for the faint hearted. Then to have someone find it funny to say "Have you ever heard the saying, 'See Rome and DIE'?" was unbelievable. I should have responded by correcting him; because the phrase is more commonly known as "See Naples and Die" but I was simply too dumbstruck. This week leading up to today Julie has been suffering terribly from anxiety, waking up every morning, and vomiting. She has been prescribed diazepam from her doctor to try and help with the flights, but I still wonder whether or not she will find the courage to even get on that plane tomorrow. This is our 15th Wedding Anniversary, and I desperately want to go. Work has been getting on top of me recently, and I need a break! However I know that if Julie had her own way, because of the current circumstances, she wouldn't put herself through this torture. We would simply cancel the vacation and stay at home, and who would blame her? I on the other hand have been a little stubborn, and not even entertained the thought of cancelling. I have even gone as far to say that I would go on my own if she decided not to go! Now who's the insensitive one! All I know is that if she does make it on board she will have done it for me and for me alone, and it would be the greatest display of her love. She would put her own distress to one side so that we get to go to Rome.
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