Gwyneth Paltrow
is a lot of things. She’s the wife of Chris Martin of Coldplay
, the mother of the unfortunately named Apple and Moses, an Academy Award winning
actress, a sometimes guest star on Glee who butchers Adele
songs, a wannabe rapper, a hanger-on of Jay-Z, and the founder of GOOP, a pretentious and disconnected lifestyle and wellness site made for people who could never possibly relate to Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle. That’s a lot of things. But how about a 9/11 hero?
is a lot of things. She’s the wife of Chris Martin of Coldplay, the mother of the unfortunately named Apple and Moses, an Academy Award winning actress, a sometimes guest star on Glee who butchers Adele songs, a wannabe rapper, a hanger-on of Jay-Z, and the founder of GOOP, a pretentious and disconnected lifestyle and wellness site made for people who could never possibly relate to Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle. That’s a lot of things. But how about a 9/11 hero? This weekend marks the tenth anniversary of the September 11 tragedy, where a great many Americans lost their lives, or the lives of their beloved family members either in the attacks themselves, or by bravely giving their own lives to save another. So, obviously, what better way to besmirch the names of our fallen heroes than give Gwyneth Paltrow some utterly superfluous accolades for doing absolutely nothing? I can think of no better way.
Let’s revisit that historic day, when random jaywalker Lara Lundstrom Clarke was crossing the street in downtown Manhattan. As she crosses, she spots someone in a Mercedes SUV – wait! Who’s that?! Oh my God, it’s Gwyneth Paltrow! Lara, stunned to see such glory, pauses for a long moment and is nearly hit by Paltrow’s vehicle. There’s an awkward stand-off before she finally crosses, the fateful encounter coming to an end. But it takes long enough for Lara to miss her train to work at the World Trade Center, thus keeping her alive through the attacks.
So overtaken by emotion at this Sliding Doors
-esque moment, Lara recently wrote Paltrow a letter, to commemorate their special moment and give Paltrow thanks for being her Mercedes-clad savior. And Paltrow? Well, upon reading the letter, she got chills. But the question remains - how did Paltrow accomplish this lifesaving feat of heroism?
-esque moment, Lara recently wrote Paltrow a letter, to commemorate their special moment and give Paltrow thanks for being her Mercedes-clad savior. And Paltrow? Well, upon reading the letter, she got chills. But the question remains - how did Paltrow accomplish this lifesaving feat of heroism?Paltrow responded to this question with the gravity it deserves: "Basically, what happened was I had gone to a yoga class very early,” she explained while promoting her new movie Contagion at the Venice Film Festival.
She went early to yoga class. Wow. Just…wow. I have chills, too, just thinking about it. Let's take pause and ponder the significance here. If G-Patz (that's her rap name) had not wanted to get those stretches in early, well...I can't even go on. I'm too emotional.
Naturally, this incredible occurrence is now being covered heavily by the press, and rightly so. After a full decade going by without this knowledge, the American public needs to know just how special our yoga-loving freedom fighter is. So this weekend, as a nation remembers what we’ve endured over the last decade as a result of the 9/11 attacks - the innocent victims of the attacks, the public servants who sacrificed their own lives to save another, the American soldiers we've lost in a decade of resulting war - take a moment to also thank God for Gwyneth Paltrow, a true American hero.