The author of this piece is a dear friend. ‘This is still our Sydney’ is her personal account of December 15 & 16, 2014. We met up last weekend never imagining the terrible events to come. Among the many grabs and soundbites since the shock of the Sydney siege, many people rush to write about their feelings about the day. It’s allowed of course but the results are often mawkish. This piece isn’t. It is simply one person’s powerful and unbroken story of Sydney this week. I recommend it.
It’s Monday morning and I’m running late. Walking late. It’s twenty minutes to ten when I turn left from Phillip St into Martin Place.
I don’t look at the Lindt cafe as I pass. My eyes are focused on the Channel Seven news ticker. I can’t remember now what it says but I’m sure Michael Clarke’s hamstring features somewhere.
I love Martin Place, its wide indulgent promenade and its buildings that speak of other times. I always take a moment to breathe it in.
Man Haron Monis is only minutes away. This morbid chapter is already unfolding. By the time I settle at my desk, he has entered the Lindt cafe. The lives of seventeen people going about the mundane business of ordering and serving coffee are now forever changed.
Before long, a large TV screen in our office is showing static footage of a shopfront. This in itself stands…
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