9/11 (+1)

I know I'm a day late with this post, but oh well.

September 11, 2001:

I was working the early shift at my old job & my boss & I were the only ones in the office when he received a phone call. I remember him yelling "HOLY SHIT!!! ARE YOU SHITTING ME??" & then he yelled out to me "Terrorists just flew 2 planes into the World Trade Center!!" We ran into the kitchen where we had a small tv w/ rabbit ears & we turned it on to whatever channel had the least snow in the picture. We couldn't believe our eyes. They replayed the footage of the 2nd plane flying into tower 2 & I was speechless. I immediately thought of my brother, Mike who worked in Manhattan. I knew some times if he was running late, he'd take the subway to the World Trade Center & change trains there in order to get to work on time. I was hoping & praying that he wasn't running late that day. I tried to call him, but of course all the lines were down. I called my parents & they'd already tried to call him, with the same results. When the towers fell I burst into tears. I was panicked the whole rest of the day until I finally heard from my mom that afternoon that Mike was ok.

I spent the rest majority of the work day & the whole rest of the night glued to the tv. I couldn't not watch. And I couldn't stop crying. I cried for days & days & even today, every time I see those towers fall, I still cry. I will never be able to wrap my head around the supposed reason why people could do such an incredibly horrible thing. I don't want to understand.

New York City has always held a special place in my heart. Below is a journal entry I made a few years ago about my last visit before the attacks:

When I was a kid living in New Jersey, every once in a while, my family would make the trek into New York City. I remember going to see the Statue of Liberty & my parents making us all walk up the steps to the top. I remember going to the observation deck of the Empire State Building & also into the World Trade Center Twin Towers to look out onto the city. However, during all the times I've visited New York City as an adult, I'd never really done any of the the touristy things while there. This year, however, was going to be different.

It was my 1st trip back to NY since being there for the funeral of my BIL a few months back & I was determined to make this trip a fun one. After spending a few days in Long Island visiting my sister & her son, I took the train into the city to visit my brother, Mike. Normally we'd end up going to the Tckts booth in the World Trade Center to see if we could score some decent tickets to a Broadway show. However, we decided this time it would be fun to be "tourists" for once, so Mike bought us tickets for the 2 hour circle line Harbor Lights Evening Cruise around Manhattan. It was a drizzly rainy day in NYC & this was supposed to be a sunset cruise around the city. By the time we got to the peir, the rain had stopped & were on our way to see the city in all its glory. As we pulled out of the dock we passed the Twin Towers. I quickly took a photo of them & then handed my camera to Mike to take photo of me with the towers directly behind me.

Even though it was a bit too cloudy for a sunset, the city was still so beautiful. As it got dark out, all the lights of the city became alive & it took my breath away. We listened to the tour guide over the PA system talk about the history of the city, the buildings, the bridges, & the people of New York. After the 1st hour of the tour, the boat turned around at the Statue of Liberty & headed back to the peir. Since there was nothing new for the guide to say, they simply pumped jazz music through the PA as Mike & I stood on the very back of the boat, looking out at the Statue of Liberty & that beautiful city. As we neared closer to the end of our tour, we came face to face w/ the Twin Towers again. By then, the clouds were slowly dissapating & the moon was rising directly over the towers. With the jazz music playing in the background, the lights of the city, and that beautiful moon, I felt like I was in the middle of Woody Allen film. Despite being a little wet, it was perfect. We disembarked from the boat & walked around the city a little before stopping at this wonderful Italian restaurant for dinner. Mike & I talked & laughed & had a wonderful time. I was so happy. After all the years Mike & I fought as kids, I loved that we could now enjoy each other's company so much & have days like this. It was my favorite trip to NYC so far. I couldn't wait to come back. I'd taken at least a dozen photos on that circle line tour alone, but the only 2 that came out were the ones of the World Trade Center Twin Towers.

3 weeks after those photos were taken, the Twin Towers were gone & thousands of people lost their lives in the attacks of September 11, 2001. I stood in the tiny kitchen by my office & watched in disbelief as terrorists flew 2 airplanes into the buildings & I watched them fall like a house of cards.

How could this be? I was just there.

I cried for days & days & I mourned the losses this country endured.

But I also considered myself blessed. I got to see those buildings one last time, up close & personal. I got to experience New York City... all of it... the people, the life, the magic that is that city... in all its glory. I will never forget that wonderful day in August of 2001.

Ever since then, those 2 photos have hung on my wall as a constant reminder of how fragile life is.

(Unfortunately I lost the disc that had the original photos on it so these are photos of the photos on my wall.)