Thanks for the encouragement from this morning’s post to choke out my rambling September 11th story guys. As hard as it is to tell, I feel like it’s something I’ll want to look back on – especially when Clara’s older and I’m trying to explain the enormity of that day. It was a terrible day, but such a life-changing one too, and it definitely shaped who I am. And as much as I love having thousands of DIY posts in our archives, sometimes it’s those rare personal posts (like this one or this one or this one) that make me the happiest that I dumped all the jumbled words out of my head and onto the keyboard.
I’ve debated whether or not to write this for six years now, every time this anniversary rolls around. I was a college sophomore living in New York City on September 11th, but the experience of being there and watching everything happen right in front of my eyes is still something I haven’t quite wrapped my head around. So I’ve stayed mum on the topic for all of the years we’ve been blogging. I don’t know what makes this year any different, but I felt like I was ready this time. It’s crazy how something that happened 12 years ago can feel so distant, but when I start talking/typing about it, I remember every sound and smell and sight and it floods back like it was yesterday. Early that morning I had been in Grand Central working on a show house for Country Home magazine (my best friend and I interned there during the morning we didn’t have classes, just lending a hand to unwrap accessories so the rooms could be styled).
I remember hearing from our boss right when we got there that a plane had hit the World Trade Center, but it sounded like it was minor (like some small plane with the wrong coordinates made a mistake). Nothing like “terrorism” or “act of war” was mentioned, so we shrugged and kept unpacking boxes while a few people called relatives who worked in the tower, just to check on them. It sounded like only a few floors were affected, which had us worried for those people but no one was really freaking out. Then a little while later we heard the second tower was hit. The only way I can describe it was immediate panic. Grand Central was evacuated within minutes.
There were guards with guns and people rushing us out and they just sort of explained that this was another “landmark” in NYC, so it wasn’t safe to be here because there were fears that other places in the city were going to be targeted. Thank God my best friend was there with me. I completely panicked and had no idea where to go or what to do. At this point the entire subway system had been shut down (again, because it was a “target” so the city wanted to evacuate any place they thought could be hit next) so we all spilled out into the street in front of Grand Central and my best friend and I just walked towards Penn Station, which is where the train we took to our apartment in Bayside, Queens would be (assuming those were still running).
When we got there we learned it wasn’t. So we just walked around aimlessly and found ourselves sitting on the steps of the New York Public Library. We were terrified that it was another target (should we sit here? should we keep walking around?). I think we were in a state of shock, so we just sat down on the steps anyway. People were rushing by and there were crazy things just laying in the street and on the sidewalk, as if someone abandoned them half-way through running. A man’s shoe. Just one of them. An open briefcase with papers splayed out all around it. Nobody’s cell phones were working, which was especially scary for those trying to reach us (like our parents). I remember saying “we should just conserve our battery and our energy and sit here.” Then people started pointing at the smoldering towers, which we had a clear view of from the library steps (we could see them smoking in the distance since they were such a huge part of the NYC skyline). A large cloud of dust flew up from the first tower and someone shouted “It was hit again!” and someone else said “They’re bombing it!” and the tower fell right in front of us. It just imploded on itself with a giant cloud of dust flying up into the air.
Of course we didn’t know at the time that the heat and damage sustained by the initial impact of the plane had caused the tower to fall, so it felt like a very real possibility that the tower had been hit again, causing it to collapse. I remember someone screaming “we’re at war!” and someone else just closing their eyes and raising their hands and saying the Lord’s prayer over and over again.
At that point we ran. Just sort of scattered like ants and everyone was crying and there was dust billowing up the streets, even though the tower had fallen over three miles away from us. There were police officers and firemen just covered in ash. They were entirely gray with white eyes and white teeth. There were people bleeding who had been close enough to be hurt by debris who were clearly running on foot from downtown since no public transportation was available anymore.
We eventually ended up in the first floor of a hotel in midtown, just hiding in the foyer. There was a TV on with people gathered around and that’s when we saw the second tower fall. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Nobody wanted to talk or move. I think total shock is the perfect description. And fear. We were literally frozen in fear. At some point the hotel offered to let people up into some vacant rooms but we didn’t want to go upstairs even if it was just a level or two up. We had just seen two skyscrapers collapse. Nobody wanted to be anywhere but on the ground floor. So we could run.
Somehow late that night we got back to our apartment in Bayside, Queens. Some of the trains had started running and we got some spotty cell service to reassure family we were okay. We didn’t know what to do with ourselves, and kept finding ourselves drawn to the now completely changed skyline outside, so we went out on the tiny old balcony of our apartment and that’s when the smell hit us. Like something burning, but also rancid. I don’t know if I was stupid or in denial or what, but I asked my best friend “do you think that smell is the burned metal from the building?” and then we looked at each other and realized that the building wasn’t the only thing burning. And we cried.
What haunts me the most were the thousands of missing person posters that were plastered everywhere in the days and weeks afterwards. Fences and scaffolding and subway walls were covered in faces of everyone who was lost – photos of dads smiling with their children. Women hugging their dogs. Christmas cards with the missing person’s face circled with an arrow. It was gut-wrenching. I remember telling my friend Lindsay that I had a dream about a man in a suit and the whole time I was thinking “how do I know him?!” and in the morning I realized he was one of the faces on the fence near my apartment.
A friend of mine’s dad actually got out of the first tower and was safe on the ground when his boss told him they were cleared to go back in for their wallets and belongings, so he went back in and the tower fell, killing him. I just remember crying with her and saying how unfair it was over and over again. It felt even more cruel that he had been outside and then ended up back in there just as it fell. Stories like that seem all too familiar now, especially those of the policemen and fireflighters who ran in just as the towers crumbled. At the time I think we were half devastated and half numb. It felt like too much to process all at one time.
But one amazing thing about being in New York during that time was the love and support. It sounds crazy, but we were all family in that moment of grief. We all wanted everyone to be okay, and we wanted to rebuild and come back stronger. For the weeks following September 11th we’d thank the dusty firemen that we saw on the subway with tears in our eyes and buy drinks for the workers who were downtown digging through the rubble for survivors. It sort of was like a war that we all had lived through together, and we were all on the same side. It was us against the bad guys, and we were stubborn New Yorkers – there’s no way we were going to just lie down and let them win.
My sophomore year of college had only recently started when it happened and classes resumed about a week later, once the subways were up and running again. A lot of my classes were emptier though. That year I’d say about 30% of my friends left the city. September 11th changed everything and some just couldn’t stomach the idea of being there any longer. I completely understood, but nothing in me ever even whispered “leave.” New York City was my home, and I was staying. I think for the people who stayed, it felt like we grew stronger. More bonded. We looked at each other on the subway and on the streets and we all sort of silently encouraged each other. We’d never forget that day, but we weren’t going anywhere.
I lived there for four more years. I finished school. I got a job at an advertising agency right in midtown, less than a block away from Grand Central – the place where my world got turned upside down a few years earlier. It was at that agency that I met John and we started dating. In fact he took this picture of me and my best friend about a month before he and I moved to Virginia to start a life together.
So while I’m a Richmond gal now, I’ll always be a New Yorker at heart. NYC forever, baby.
Jen C. says
I’m going to sound like an ahole, but hear me out. I deleted your blog from my reader last year after you failed to acknowledge 9/11 but had a sidenote about some stupid reality show (but really, it was the final straw with you guys). You were the ONLY blogger who didn’t say one single thing about the day.
As it turns out, you’re the only blogger I “know” who actually witnessed the events in person. I’m sorry for what you went through that day and have dealt with in your mind since then. I’m glad I googled your blog today. I completely understand that my unhappiness with what you posted last year is completely on me (hey, you can’t please everyone), but now I know why.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Jen! I have no idea why this year was different than the others, but it already feels so much better just to talk about it. Wish I had the courage last year.
xo
s
Shannon Summers says
Sherry,
Thank you for sharing, it was touching to read. It’s so hard making sense of this even now. I’m 26 and from Texas and when it happened I was only 14, very naive, and very far away.
It’s only recently now that I’m older and after having visited NYC, reading the stories, and watching the footage every anniversary that I start to make sense of how it must have felt to be present or to really even grasp what that day meant. Every story I hear lets me make a little more sense of it and I begin to remember how truly thankful I should be for having a strong country and all the freedoms we have. For me, even writing this little comment makes me feel silly because it really doesn’t begin to express how I feel. I guess it just starts with some words on paper (computer document?). Thank you.
Emily says
Thanks for sharing your story. Even though I was across the country in Salt Lake City watching it all unfold live on TV, it felt like it was happening in my own backyard. I guess in a way it really was. May we all stand United as Americans…on that day and always!
Tiffany T. says
Thank you for sharing your heart Sherry!
Jessica says
I sit here right now on 5th ave between West 44th and West 45th and let me tell you it feels like 9/11 all over again every,single, year. I was only in 6th grade at the time in Astoria but my father was right across the street from WTC,his car was smashed with debri litterally like a pancake… thank goodness he had just parked to get some coffee… I couldn’t think of how I would feel if I lost him that day. This morning I went to take the train and the subway station was packed the train hadn’t passed by in almost 45 minutes (which is unheard of) and my heart sank because I instantly thought go home Jess it could happen or has happened again. But thankfully I made it to work safely and its 3:30pm and nothing has happened. Every year though we all walk around on needles thinking it could happen again. Thank you for sharing your story.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh Jessica, I’m so glad your dad was ok. Such a scary day.
xo
s
Cher says
Thank you.
This is our generation’s “where where you when Kennedy was shot” and it is up to us to remember and pass on everything we learned from being part of it.
Your story and the stories of others will stay with us for a long time, whereas the names and identities of the cruel men who caused this terrible day have long been forgotten- a fitting tribute to the people who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Sally G says
What an incredibly vivid account. The white teeth and eyes of the fireman, the woman saying the Lord’s Prayer. Watching the 1st tower fall in person. I was in Anchorage, Alaska. I doubt there was place further from NYC in the country. I worked in one of the tallest buildings in the city… they sent us home. I still remember the distinct feeling of not having any idea what to do. I cooked for my friends. I called people that I knew. And I felt, with the rest of the country and the world, that nothing would ever be the same again.
Lucy Sinkular says
Oh Sherry, thanks for writing this. I’m sure it was hard. Of all the things I’ve read, your story was a totally new perspective. My husband was working as an AF officer at Offutt AFB in Omaha, NE where the President came shortly after it all started. My kids were 2 and 3 years old. But thinking of being there, as you were, my goodness. You are an amazing artistic, decorating inspiration. But never forget you are also a super wife/mom/woman to many of us scattered throughout the globe. Your stories all matter. Thanks again.
Amiz says
I’ve been a follower of your blog since almost the beginning and while I absolutely love the diy posts, it’s the personal ones that helps me get a feel for the people behind the blog. It takes strength to be able to put in words what happened in a tragic moment.
Tanya says
Oh, that’s right! I forgot about the missing posters!
Thank you for sharing this. I was working in NYC, living in NJ at the time, and reading this made all those memories come back again. The office I worked at was opposite Empire State, so we were evacuated as soon as the second plane hit.
I remember the smell, too, and the eeriness of it. It was such a sunny and warm day, too. And the throngs of people just walking, walking – uptown, away from the smoke and the ashes.
Do you remember how, later, everyone waited for the news from Ground Zero? How, every time they dug someone else out, whenever you were, people would cheer, like it was their relative that was found?
Oh, I cant’ write anymore. Thank you so so much for sharing!
YoungHouseLove says
I remember praying they’d find a survivor. Just one. It was like the whole city was waiting for the news. Like we couldn’t really take deep breaths for days.
xo
s
Sarah W. says
What a horrifying experience. I always think that as time goes by we’ll be hardened to it and won’t feel so upset every year…but there always comes a point in the day when you re-live whatever experience you had with it. I think it’s important for us to remember this day because it is the one experience–at least in my lifetime–in which all Americans truly united with one another. It’s strange for me living in Canada now because I think I’m more affected by it than others. Thank you for being strong enough to share your story with us.
Amanda says
I am back in NY now, and I can tell you this: today the city stood up once again and banned around each other.
Since you can’t be in NY today, I am making an extra effort to comfort, console, remember, be a shoulder to cry on, and anything else that is needed.
As a fellow New Yorker, I understand. I applaud you for sharing your story I know how hard it is. I was a sophomore in high school (in florida) when it happened. Being away made it so much harder. I come from a family of police officers and I was so scared something had happened to one of them. They are all ok, thank God.
I love reading your blog, both you and John bring smiles, laughter, and inspiration to so many. So for today, I’m going to try to do the same in your honor.
Thanks for sharing your story.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much Amanda, I’m so glad to hear the city is still rallying. There’s endless NYC love coming out of Richmond, today!
xo
s
Jess says
Thank you so much for this, Sherry. It gave me chills and tears, but also hope- because love is stronger than fear and will always overcome.
I’ve been thinking about this quote all day:
“Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Do not be afraid.” – Frederick Buechner
YoungHouseLove says
Such a great quote. Thanks Jess!
xo
s
Melissa says
Awh Sherry… Thank you for sharing this. It brough tears to my eyes.
As a Canadian (living a days drive away from NYC), the significance is still huge but different. I too remember the exact day but I never thought about it the way you painted the picture of the streets and how people reacted. You wrote it really beautifully. You have magnified my level of compassion for all those affected. Thank you.
Susan says
Sherry, thanks for the courage it took to write about your experience. I was in DC that day, and my memories of shock and disbelief are very similar to yours. I remember walking the sidewalks near my office building and noticing that everyone had the same strange vacant look (that I realized later was shock). I also remember feeling overwhelmed by the beauty of each person’s face, the trees and flowers, the crisp blue sky. Such a contrast to the horror. Love and humanity always wins.
Karen says
Thanks for sharing your story. The thing I realize is that we all have a Sept 11th story, whether we were there or not. Some of them, like yours, are scarier and more raw, but we all remember that day. I was supposed to be flying into NYC that day for work, but cancelled my trip at the last minute. I had coworkers who were already there, who ended up “trapped” in the city for almost a week with no way to leave. My niece worked at a building next to the first tower. They had been evacuated and she was actually on the street when the first tower collapsed. She was thrown into the lobby of another building with many, many other people. She was covered in dust, and after she got out of that lobby, she said she just started walking, and didn’t stop, until she got far enough away where she found a train running to take her to her apartment in the Bronx. I remember how scared we all were until we were able to connect with her and know she was “OK”. She stayed in NY for 10 more years, and carries it in her heart. And also after this day, my young nephew who had only recently signed up to join the Air Force was suddenly thrust into the middle of a war. Thankfully he came home, but he came home a different person, and is still dealing with the effects of it to this day. Who could have known how much this one day would affect us all? Of course, we will never forget.
Thanks again for sharing your story. I think we’re all bonded together in our remembrance of this day.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh my gosh Karen, I’m so glad your niece and nephew are ok. It’s true that we all carry things like this in our heart. I think the bonding and remembrance is the best thing to come out of it.
xo
s
Amanda says
Karen, you’re so right. It’s our generation’s “where were you when Kennedy was shot?” We’ll always remember that day.
ACakeStory says
Wow. Thank you for sharing this. I’m sitting at my desk in LA, choking up. Reading your account and remembering my own seems important today.
Katie Rose says
Powerful story. I am glad you told your story, Sherry. Crazy how it is so clear in our minds and yet such a blur at the same time.
I was a sophomore in a Chicagoland high school twelve years ago. A friend told me in the hallway between classes but she didn’t have all the details. As the day went on, more and more was coming out and being spread around. Some teachers just let their students watch tv or listen to the radio during class while others tried to go on with the day as usual. I don’t remember much, just desperately wanting to get home to watch all the coverage.
I visited NYC in 1999 and not again until earlier this year. My sister & I got to see the memorial, which was wonderful. It was more emotional than I thought it would be. I did not personally know any victims of 9/11 but I still felt connected to them and their friends/families, just knowing they were fellow Americans.
Julianne says
I can imagine how hard that was to share, Sherry. Thank you for mustering up the courage to relive this painful day. Your recollection has me in tears, as I’m visualizing everything just as you have described and remembering the shocking news- the faces of the missing, the exhausted police, firefighters & civilians doing what they could do to help, and those heartwrenching texts and emails. Written by the airline passengers to family and friends to declare their love. Absolutely horrible event that will not soon to forgotten. Thank you again for this. Especially for reminding us to count our blessings for the days we’ve been given.
Kelly says
Thank you for sharing Sherry. Similar to your friend’s father my uncle also got out and then went back in. He was a fire marshall for Port Authority and was on the ground level helping people get out when the building fell. I was also a sophomore in college at the time and I remember sitting in my dorm room watching everything happen. My dad called to tell me my uncle was ok and then called back the next day to let me know that no body had heard from him again. So many incredibly special people lost that day. They will always live on through all of us.
YoungHouseLove says
I’m so sorry for your loss Kelly. I can’t even imagine.
xo
s
Nadege says
Thanks for sharing this, Sherry.
I was in France at the time, and remember coming home to what I thought was a movie on TV.
I remember unpacking my school bag, not really registering that these images were real, and wondering why a short sequence had been played twice in a row, thinking the editing of the movie hadn’t been done properly. I changed channels and the same sequence was showing on the next , and the next again.
That is when it all hit me at once. This was no fiction. It was very real, and happening to our neighbours in the USA. I was in shock and had to sit down, realising the enormity of it all.
Although France is on the other side of the Atlantic, I can tell you that our thoughts and prayers were with you on that day and for the weeks and months following that horrific event.
Take care Sherry – big hug to you and all the people affected by this tragedy.
Sinthya says
Sherry, thank you for sharing your story. You had me in tears when you got to the part of sitting on the steps and someone saying the Lord’s Prayer. I’m so sorry you, and all of us in whatever way, had to live through that.
Paulette says
It was a defining day…before 9/11…after 9/11. Where we were when it happened. Our horror as we watched the television screen. Watching the towers fall. I can’t imagine being there in the city. Thank you for sharing your story.
Katelyn Howard says
Thank you so much for sharing this. I can’t even begin to imagine that level of fear and dispair and hope I never have to. Putting memories like these into words takes so much strength! xoxo
betty says
this was so well written, sherry. I was in middle school that day, but my dad witnessed the plane crash into the Pentagon. it’s crazy how clear that day stands out in my mind.
Lauren Hooker says
Wow. Thank you so much for sharing your story, as hard as it must have been. Thank you for taking me back to that day and the weeks and months that followed; to remember those precious lives lost and reflect on how thankful I am to be an American. It’s hard to believe that was 12 years ago. Thank you again, Sherry.
Karlee says
Thank you for sharing this with us Sherry! So powerful!
Paulette says
It was a defining day…before 9/11…after 9/11. Where we were when it happened. Our horror as we watched the television screen. Watching the towers fall. I can’t imagine being there in the city. Thank you for sharing your story.
Sharon says
Thank you for sharing. I have been feeling the horror of that day all day today.
Jenny says
Thank you so much for sharing this with us Sherry. One could read a thousand stories just like this one and it never gets any easier or less raw. I lived in Georgia at the time but have lots of family in NYC and remember being so worried about them because my mom couldn’t get any of them on the phone. To think that this one day in our lifetime changed the world we live in so much in such a drastic way is really unfathomable. I dread the day I have to explain the magnitude of it to my son, but we owe all those who lost their lives the gift of passing on the memory and understanding, at the very least.
Kristal says
There are no words… Thank you for your story Sherry <3
Shannon says
So glad you could share this with us.
Elaine says
Thank you for sharing your story.
Alyssa says
Thank you for writing this, I didn’t realize that I needed to take a few moments and really remember what that day was like.
ashley @ sunnysideshlee.com says
Thanks for sharing your story, Sherry! It’s crazy that time has seem to flown right on by until we get to 9/11 every year and suddenly it’s like it happened yesterday. I too was in college (my freshman year) when the towers were hit – but a long ways from NYC. There was so much confusion even then, because rumors started flying that all major cities were going to be hit (I’m from Chicago). I can’t imagine going through that, having my city hit (not just my country) and watching it all tumble in front of me. You’re strong. And you’re strong for staying in your city and living your life, and for also sharing your story.
Thank you!
Alissa says
Sherry, this was lovely. I was also a college sophomore in NYC back then, and I always remember what a gorgeous day it had started out to be – I was running along the Hudson and all of sudden saw tons of helicopters. I could tell something was “off”, so I quickly went back home and saw the towers on television. I lived down the block from both a fire station and a hospital, and things were surreal for a very long time.
I got an email that day from a good friend who lived across the country frantically trying to make sure I was alright – he’s now my husband, we have two girls, and we still live in Manhattan. Even if we move out of the city someday, it will always be a huge part of who I am.
YoungHouseLove says
That’s such a sweet story Alissa. What a nice thing to come out of such a terrible day.
xo
s
Fran Siefert says
Thank you, Sherry.
Jules says
Sherry, thank you for sharing. Your story was very touching and allowed me more time of reflection about that day, as well. I was in Texas, far from NYC, but I remember everything from that day and the next few days. I can only imagine what you and other folks in NYC, Pennsylvania and the Pentagon did during that horrible day. I’ll never forget.
Mary Kaye Peterson says
Sherry,
Thanks for letting us in, even further than you normally do, to your personal life. What a tragic experience. I will never forget it but I was not even close to being in NYC so I can’t even begin to imagine what it was like to be there. I saw it all and cried too but just through what was shown on TV. My kids were afraid that it might happen to us where we lived but being in a small town in MN at the time, I didn’t think we had much to worry about. You are all heros for living through that experience! Take care!
Allie says
Oh Sherry! Thanks for sharing this. I hope you’ll allow me to share with you, too.
I was just starting my senior year of college across the harbor on Staten Island. I woke up late for class that morning and was scrambling to get ready when I heard a plane go overhead. I remember standing at my open sock drawer thinking, that sounded low. Then my roommate’s phone rang and woke her. She said, “What?” and told me to turn on the tv, that her boyfriend said a plane had hit the World Trade Center. As I turned on the news they were just beginning to report that the second plane had hit. Was that what I heard?
I can identify with your state of shock when you kept unwrapping things because all I could focus on was that I was late to class. I ran out of the room toward the class building and stopped on the path and turned around to look at the Manhattan skyline. And there they were spewing smoke. I kept on to class where my teacher and a few students had showed up and she said that we would press on but pray for any of those affected. People kept showing up at the door with new ‘reports.’ At one point I turned to my friend sitting next to me in terror because I had just realized that this was a day when my boyfriend at the time was in the city for his internship. (Luckily he was fine and made it back to campus, ash-covered, later that day.) When we got word the Pentagon had been hit, my professor ended class (her son worked in D.C.) and told us to go and get in touch with our families.
I walked out of the building and looked across the harbor in disbelief. They were gone. We all gathered later that day to pray in the campus square and they cancelled class for the rest of the week and sent us all home.
For weeks, smoked trailed from the rubble out to sea and we just would gaze at it out our dorm windows. I had had high hopes of making a career and life in NYC before 9/11 and I remember thinking, I have to get out of here, go back home to Pennsylvania where it’s safe. I looked and looked for jobs back home but found nothing. I ended up going on an interview, ‘for the experience,’ at a PR firm in the city and they offered me a job. So I decided to stay in that great city and follow opportunity and not fear. I stayed for two years and I’m so glad I did.
What has always haunted me the most was the sound of that plane going overhead that morning. Had I imagined that? It couldn’t have been that second plane. I was troubled by the thought of, if it was, what those people were going through in those last terrible seconds that fate had dealt them. Years later, I looked up the paths of the planes on the internet, and, indeed, the second plane had traveled directly over Staten Island on its way toward the WTC. I cried then, as I had the years before, and as I do today. But, like you, what I try to remember the most is how we all did come together like a family, to support one another in such terrible circumstances. Now as I look at my 15-month old, I wonder how I will tell her about this when the time comes. I only hope that when it does, our world will be a more peaceful place.
From across the harbor that day, and from PA to NC today,
Hugs….Allie
YoungHouseLove says
Hugs right back at you Allie. Thanks so much for sharing your story. I got goosebumps about the second plane.
xo
s
Tiffany S. says
Allie – That’s what kept frightening me the most, how those passengers must have felt in their last moments. I can’t watch any of the footage they keep showing during this week. I just can’t anymore.
Rachel says
Beautiful post. Thank you for sharing.
Amanda says
Thanks for sharing, Sherry. I was also a sophomore in college, but in DC. My best friend/roommate and I were watching CNN and eating breakfast before heading to class and the first tower had been hit by a plane. While we were sitting there watching it, the second plane hit the second tower.
We left shortly after that for class, and I still remember telling my roommate that it couldn’t have been intentional. No one could possibly do something like that intentionally. The world really changed for us that day.
Annie says
I was living in Chicago at the time with my two little kids. My mother called to tell me she was worried about my cousin who she “thought” worked in the WTC…or “maybe some other big building in New York.” Uh huh. I just thought she really had no idea where he worked and of course worried about the worst case scenario.
A few days later she called me and said “Tommy got out.” And I was like “Out of where?” The World Trade Center she said. He worked on a fairly high floor. When the first fire alarm went off he and the other 20 something workers in his small office started down the fire escape. But soon there was the “All Clear.” The young workers turned to go back up.
But their 40 something boss stopped them. He had been in that huge fire at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas years before. The lesson it taught him was “Once a fire alarm goes off you get out and don’t come back until there is no possible rrisk.” They continued on and all made it out safe.
It’s a lesson I took to heart. I have told it to my now teenage kids too.
YoungHouseLove says
Such a great lesson.
xo
s
Mary Catherine says
WOW! Thank you for sharing. We will never forget and always honor those lost.
Jenny says
Thanks for this. I have been trying very hard not to think of good friends who died that day, along with their two young daughters, on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon. Like you, I will never forget.
Here’s to Leslie and Charlie and Zoe and Dana.
Karen says
Oh Jenny….so very sorry.
Amy says
This has me in tears. Thank you for sharing. Every Sept 11 i think about one of my best friends, who was out for a jog near the towers at the time, and ran in to help save people. He survived thankfully, but I will always grieve for the person that he was before that day. Now I will think of you too on this anniversary. And all the people I don’t know who are forever changed. Thank goodness you stayed in NYC though, life obviously had some good things waiting for you there!
Grace says
Thanks for sharing, the personal stories from that day always make me cry. My dad was a police officer in DC at the time and I didn’t see him until the Saturday after the attack. I knew he was okay, but my teenage-self never wanted to hug her dad more than those days after 9/11. The events really changed my dad though. He originally worked for Port Authority before accepting his new job in DC. Though he moved away from the city in the late ’70s, he still knew a couple of officers killed that day. He never talks about his experiences, but holds back tears every time he watches a 9/11 special on tv or reads about it anywhere (and he watches/reads everything). Maybe this will be the year he can open up, too.
Nichole says
As others have said, thank you so much Sherry for sharing this with the world.
Kem says
All I can say is Thank you for sharing.
Mel says
Thank you for sharing this. I cried. We all should tell our stories, when we’re ready. It’s sobering and makes us realize why we should never forget.