Movies provide break, but tragedy remains

"I wasn’t surprised. Things have been too quiet for too long."

By: Mark Moffa
   WASHINGTON — "I wasn’t surprised," Vicki Borajkiewicz said. "Things have been too quiet for too long."
   "They win if we don’t get back to our lives," Jeff Borajkiewicz said.
   "You’ve got to move on, but you shouldn’t forget," Ms. Borajkiewicz added.
   On a brisk, starry Saturday night in a New Jersey township all too near the tragedy last week in New York City, people gathered to watch a movie.
   Some just wanted to get away from the events of the week, others simply were led by their children.
   The township decided last week not to cancel its plans to show "The Emperor’s New Groove" and "Ferris Bueller’s Day Off." Hundreds gathered at Tantum Park on Meadowbrook Road, some carrying candles to light as the township paid tribute to the estimated 5,000 people believed to have lost their lives Sept. 11 in New York, Washington, D.C., and rural Pennsylvania in terrorist attacks.
   The movies began after a rendition of "God Bless America" that moved some to tears. But despite the films, the thoughts of many still were with the hijacked planes.
   Norman Kurzeja was working in New York at 3rd and 49th streets when it happened. His building was evacuated.
   "It was just wall to wall people, but it was just dead silent," he said, describing the scene on the streets. The sounds of sirens and fighter jets in the distance were the only noises.
   Mr. Kurzeja tried to get a ferry to New Jersey, but when he saw the four-hour wait he headed for Penn Station, where eventually he was able to get a train to Trenton.
   He said the trip back to work was very sad.
   "If you go to Princeton Junction (train station) I think there are a few cars that have been there for a while."
   Erin Sanders attended the movies with her 9-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son. She said the event was a welcome break between the day of prayer President George W. Bush declared Friday and the Sunday school class she was to teach the next day.
   Ms. Sanders said it is important to reassure children they are not in danger.
   "We sat down and discussed that we’re still safe here," she said. "We discussed that there is evil in this world but that it’s a small part of it."
   Tom Magee said he talked to his 6-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son as well. They were told at school about the plane crashes, but not how or why it happened, he said.
   "We thought it was necessary to tell them that people had purposely crashed these planes into the buildings," Mr. Magee said. "They understand that there are mean people in the world."
   Nora Leszcynski, who was at Tantum Park with her four children, said she understands the passionate call from many Americans for retaliation.
   "When it hits so close to home and just hits so suddenly for what feels like no reason you really just want to go after the responsible parties," she said.
   But it is the looming possibility of a long war or military action that scares many, including Ms. Borajkiewicz.
   "It’s going to be all right in the beginning, but if it drags on Americans might not be able to accept it," she said. "My 13-year-old doesn’t have very long until he’s of age. I love my country but I’m scared for my child."
   Ms. Borajkiewicz said her son, in seventh grade, and 7-year-old daughter seem to be talking about the crisis in school, and have many questions.
   "I don’t think they understand that the threat is still there and we don’t let that be known," she said.
   Mr. Borajkiewicz said Americans are going to have to be willing to give up some freedoms now, in this new world.
   "Now we don’t mind, but give us a good six to nine months. I think that will wear very thin," Ms. Borajkiewicz said.
   She also said she tried to illustrate to her son and 7-year-old daughter that the terrorists are taught to hate.
   "These people just hate Americans," Ms. Borajkiewicz said, explaining that she is not angry at those who did this. "This is what they’ve been taught all their lives. I don’t know how you can rehabilitate a civilization. I don’t understand their hatred for Americans. They hate us for the freedom and the liberty we have."
   Imagine, Mr. Borajkiewicz said, if all the energy used to hate and to plan these terrorist attacks were used for good. What a world that would be, he said.