@StevenBeschloss
There are many horrible memories for me, even 3000 miles away at the time. But I have a lasting memory that's positive - for a while, especially that first week, people in my town really looked at each other, really looked into each others eyes.
I don't know what it was for the other people, but to me it seemed we were really seeing each other, as individuals, as members of our community even if we were strangers, as fellow travelers for stretch.
That was nice. It didn't last.