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.
cora says
Thank you for having the courage to share your touching story.
Meredith says
Thank you so much for sharing your touching story. I have often wondered what it was like for those in NYC who were near the towers, but not close enough to be physically injured. I can’t imagine. God bless!
Andrea says
I have no words. …
But I needed to thank you for sharing.
Rosie S says
I cannot imagine being so close to it all. I felt like I was living under water for weeks…just slogging thru the days, and I didn’t live with the visual reminders that you did far beyond weeks or even months. Prayers are said this day and every 9/11 since 2001. Thanks for sharing the story of this time which still resonates with us, despite the years gone by.
Jenn says
Sherry thank you for sharing your life changing event with us. Your story is truly gut wrenching. I cried while I read your story. Prays will go to your friend who lost her dad when the building fell. It makes me very upset that anyone would allow people back into a building where the structural integrity would be in question. I would love to reach through the computer screen and give you a hug. Thank you again for sharing. :)
Tirsa says
Thanks for sharing this, Sherry. Tears in my eyes…
I’ll never forget the anguish of my student whose dad worked in the Pentagon and did not know anything for many hours. (He was O.K. but no one knew for most of the day because of the phones being down.) I remember the despair of the parents banging on the school doors to let their children out. Being so close to D.C. We were on lockdown for a while- there was so much confusion and we had to follow system wide orders for everyone’s safety. I remember the bravery of teachers who kept their kids busy and oblivious to the danger outside-despite their personal anguish. (The younger kids felt safe and were surprised to be sent home early that day.)
I always cry on 9.11 when I watch those images and the ceremonies of remembrance. But on that day I had no tears- I was in a stupor, and I spent hours dazed and standing in front of the tv repeating I can’t believe this- until Peter Jenning’s voice broke talking about his children…. and then I broke down.
Yes, I’ll never forget. I need to get the courage to tell my son about it. Maybe next year he’ll be old enough to get some of the information and understand it.
Nik says
I live all the way over in Australia and I can say this terrible event had a huge impact on the free world. It still brings tears to my eyes when I see footage of those planes going into the buildings and watching people run in total fear as the buildings came down. It must have been so terrifying for you to be so close … you are so brave. I was in New York two years ago so I could picture you sitting on the library steps with your friend watching the world pass by you without a clue of what to do. During my visit there, it was great to see with my own eyes how this beautiful city and its people have recovered after such a horrific event but the world and its people will never be the same again. I pray that something like that never ever ever happens again.
Nik xx
Georgia says
I think everyone who lived in NYC at that time will always remember that day. It’s a bit like how older people can say where they were when they heard the news about JFK. I remember that morning so vividly…everything about it. I wasn’t in the city, but Queens, but my husband had gone off to work and I knew he was going to the world trade center that day…just not when. No cell phone coverage, not knowing. Watching the towers go down on TV. The kids being locked into school. It was terrifying, numbing. But it happened only a few months after our move to NYC and like you, we wanted to stay. We had always wanted to live in NYC (we both come from Tasmania) and we saw the best of New Yorkers. I’ve lived in and around NYC for 9 years and it’s a place I love.
Jenny says
Thank you for sharing. I live in a little town outside of Toronto now, but lived in Manhattan for 6 years. We had a little place we loved down on Exchange Place, a block from Wall Street. I hope that all those who lost their loved ones have found peace.
Julia says
Jeff Mladenik, the husband of a friend of mine (we’re both adoptive families and met through that connection), was on American Airlines flight 11 that hit the first tower.
I set my 4 year old daughter in the living room to watch some cartoons while I went to my room and turned on the news and my computer. I had an email from a mutual friend telling me Jeff was on the plane.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh Julia, I’m so sorry for your loss.
xo
s
Karen says
Thank you Sherry. My son will be 14 next week, so he was just shy of 2 when it happened. Like everyone else, I vividly remember that day and always will, and I just can’t believe it was TWELVE years ago.
Kristina Nelson says
While I can understand that writing is therapy, Sept. 11 isn’t about YOU. YOU go home every night to your husband and daughter. THOUSANDS don’t. They never will. Ever. Sept. 11 is larger than you.
Nicky says
I understand your point but there is a very big difference between making something revolve around you and describing your point of view. My personal opinion is that Sherry wrote this from her point of view, not that she was making it about her.
(By the way, respect for you guys for approving negative comments like this one as well)
Megan says
Sorry I have to say something–Sherry’s not making it about her in this post. She’s sharing her point of view. Each person has a different story and I don’t know that we can rate those. My heart breaks still for the victims of this tragedy and their friends and families. However, it doesn’t do us any good to beat up on each other.
Ellie says
While those of us who witnessed that terrible day and have lived to share our memories are aware that we are fortunate to be here to do so, that does not, in any way, negate the loss and pain other people went through on September 11th. People died in terrible ways; their families had heartbreak and devastation; others escaped from the Towers with psychic wounds; many others saw horrifying events and were terrorized. Millions more watched aghast from afar and had their own emotions and reactions: their stories all count.
I understand a little of what you are trying to say—and possibly you experienced a loss of your own that is making you angry. Since I live in New York and knew friends who died in the Towers, and went through a terrifying experience not knowing if my husband was alive, or how to protect my children from what we were all convinced was more attacks coming, I admit to some feelings of exasperation when people who lived thousands of miles away talk about how horrible it was for them to witness it “on TV” or how they “were all New Yorkers” that day. I sometimes have thought: no, you’re not, because you couldn’t possibly know what it was like. Or: I would’ve rather seen it on TV in another country than have to clean ashes that had blown into my house and my garden, or gone to gut-wrenching funerals, or tried to explain to my children why a friend’s father, a fireman, wasn’t coming home.
BUT, at the same time, I get that everyone’s feelings are their own feelings, and everyone is entitled to them. We can all only see the world from our own eyes. I know that my story is not wretched the way others’ are; people in other parts of the world know their grief that day was a small thing compared to others.
Sherry’s experience and feelings, or those of any of us who have told our stories here and elsewhere, are valid, and I think she demonstrates every day how grateful she is for her life, her family, and her home. She may tell her story and you may, or may not, tell yours…be at peace.
Nycole says
I lived in Brooklyn, and I am still not ready to share my story. Maybe one day.
Thanks for sharing yours.
NK in NoVA
Bonnie says
Sherry, Thank you for sharing your memories of that terrible day. Reading it made me cry because I feel so deeply about it but am still not able to voice my feelings God bless.
Karen C. says
Thank you so much for sharing your experience.
Nicky says
Hi Sherry,
Thank you so much for sharing. To be honest, I live thousands of miles away (in Belgium) so I never really got a grasp of how it must have been for people in the area. Your story made it feel so real, as if I was experiencing it myself. Still, I wouldn’t even dare say I know what it felt like because in reality, only those who were actually there and those who lost their beloved can.
Your sensation of how New Yorkers felt and acted towards each other really warms my heart though. I’ve always heard that Americans are very supporting towards each other and this comes forward from your story as well.
You are right, we should never forget this aweful day and I hope stories such as this one will contribute to that.
Sara Moody says
I was 21 and working in mid-town. I remember every second of the day from the time I left NJ on a train, to the time I ended up dumped by NJ transit into the Meadowlands parking lot where staff gave thousands of people water because it was so hot that day. All these men and woman in suits in the blazing sun. The only way out of the city that day was by ferry so that’s how I got out before NJ transit shuttled everyone over to East Rutherford. The ferry ride over to NJ, I sat with people covered in ash and had a view of my dream city burning up in a cloud in a smoke. I tell the story every single year to my husband so I never forget the details of the day. It helps me to reflect on the things that are important in life and also helps me remember the incredible kindness that came from my fellow New Yorkers the weeks that followed. Folks that would never look you in the eye before were lending you their cell phone to call a loved one. It was really amazing.
Austin says
Thank you for sharing. Never forget.
amanda says
thank you. People who where there need to tell the stories, so we never forget.
Tracy says
What a beautifully written recollection of that horrible day. I really think you will look back on this in a few years when Clara is old enough to understand and be thankful that you put it in words for her. Scary to think that our kids won’t understand it the same way that we did living through it, right? Thank you for sharing your story. <3
Meghan says
Just came across your site for the first time, and this heartfelt story really struck a chord with me. Thank you so much for sharing this. It’s surreal hearing first-hand accounts of that infamous day, and it’s a testament to your character that you’ve found the silver lining. #neverforget #neveragain
Sarah says
Reading your description of the posters everywhere advertising missing people, wow. I remember how sobering it was as a 14 year old to watch the news coverage and right before commercials they would run ads for families that were searching for their loved ones. I remember watching this girl with a New Jersey accent who looked about my age, crying and showing a picture of her dad who was missing. For some reason that one stood out to me and I’ll never forget that image. I can’t imagine walking through the streets and seeing that everywhere.
CN says
Thank you for posting this. I was 24 and in my office 1 mile from the Pentagon when it was hit. Looking out the window and seeing the sky completely filled with putrid, thick black smoke and recognizing in that instant that obviously many people had been killed, running for my life down the stairs of our office building to evacuate, the sheer terror of not knowing what was going to happen next, some day I hope I can put it all into words. Coincidentally, I had just spent a few hours hanging out at the World Trade Center the week before, my first time ever in NYC, visiting my best friend who was in law school, and I still think about all the people I saw and interacted with while I was there (the girl who sold me a smoothie, the guy working the register at the Gap), wondering if they were killed, if they escaped. I still keep a receipt in my bookshelf because it says “Waldenbooks September 3, 2001 World Trade Center”. Nobody knows it’s there but me.
Summer says
I remember being in 9th grade in my algebra class, here in Florida, when it happened. All of the emotions from thousands of miles away hit me hard. I couldn’t imagine actually being there. It may have made New York super strong but I know it brought us as Americans closer too. Thank you so much for sharing your story, Sherry! God bless :)
Mallory R says
Thank you for sharing Sherry.
You, along with all those affected by 9/11 prove time and time again how strong you all are.
Michele says
Thank you so much for sharing! I’m like every else – sitting here at my desk crying. I live in the middle of the country but I clearly remember that day. I was an elementary school principal and felt like the world was ending. I can’t even begin to imagine being right there. May we never forget.
Jacelyn says
Thanks for sharing, Sherry. I appreciate hearing your story.
Emily says
Your words gave me chills. That sense of being disoriented and not really knowing where to go or what to do is still so palpable. I was in my early 20s, working for a Congressman on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. I can still tell you exactly what I was wearing, word-for-word conversations from that day, what it was like to sit with our nation’s leaders as they digested that day and the days thereafter. Just as you realized that buildings weren’t the only thing burning, DC was treated to planes flying air cover over our nation’s capitol. Air cover! Weapons were deployed simultaneously with emergency services and that mingling is forever etched in my mind. I still feel so bonded to the people I was with that day and each year on September 11th I say prayers for and send notes to each of them.
MEgan says
Wow, Sherry, I just now read your post from yesterday and am sitting here in tears. I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been to relive that and attempt to put into words what must have been a life-changing experience. Thank you for sharing it with us; it’s so important that we never forget how that brought us together as a nation.
Liz says
Sherry,
Your story gave me chills. And now, reading everyone’s stories in the comments has given me chills as well. I cannot even imagine how terrifying that day must have been you, being in the city and seeing everything as it was happening. I grew up in the Niagara Region of Ontario, Canada (in a border city), and even though I didn’t know anyone who lost loved ones that day, it was still very scary for everyone. I was in 10th grade at the time, and being a Canadian teenager, I had no idea what the WTC’s were. Our classes were cancelled for the day though, and my school played live news coverage in our auditorium, and the teachers and admin let students come and go as they pleased. That night when I got home I was glued to CNN. It’s strange how we all can remember that day so clearly. I always get a little anxious every year when 9/11 passes. My thoughts are with everyone and anyone that were affected by this tragedy.
HeatherFromKC says
Thank you for taking the time to share your story. 9/11 was my second day at my job, a day I will never forget. We were all in such shock. I work for a government agency. The terror that we all felt, and something we never will forget.
Meagan says
Thanks for sharing such a beautifully written post.
I will never forget that day. I was a freshman in college sharing an apartment with my older brother. He started pounding on my bathroom door while I was in the shower and yelling that a plane had hit the WTC. I got out of the shower and stood in my towel next to my brother (unusual to say the least) just staring at the TV. My father was travelling for business that week. We were not sure whether he was in NYC, on a plane to DC, or in DC and we couldn’t get in touch with him. That was the longest day until we finally got an email from him around 4pm when he made it back to his hotel in Jersey. He should have been a block from the towers when the planes hit, but thankfully his meeting had been pushed back a couple hours and instead he was still in a car heading into the city when they hit. I have never been so scared in my whole life as I was that day. I will never forget. I don’t think anyone who was alive that day will ever forget.
MISSY says
Thanks Sherry. Thanks.
Elizabeth A says
Thank you for sharing your story Sherry. As an Oklahoman, my heart goes out to NYC every year. We here know what it is like to lose many of your own and April 19 and Septerber 11 are closly tied together in my heart. Each year we remember those lost we grow stronger as a community. May we never forget them.
Elizabeth A says
Oh the errors – hard to type through tears. Thanks again for your story.
Runt says
Wow. I can’t even imagine what that must have been like. It’s really crazy how it feels like this really just happened, and not that it was TWELVE years ago.
Margaret says
Sherry, my office was on 40th street 1/2 a block from the Library. I did not realize until that day, when I stood on the corner of 5th and 40th, that I could even see the towers from there. We were all together on that day.
YoungHouseLove says
We were all together that day. Perfectly put.
xo
s
Danielle Ferretti in Miami says
Sherry, thanks for sharing ! We too lived in NYC at the time, and I try so hard to explain to people how this day is filled with so many mixed emotions for me… At the same time that I mourn, hurt and cry for the lost ones and their families, I want to celebrate the fact that my husband was one of the lucky ones that got out alive that fateful day – that he was given a 2nd chance… I feel so guilty celebrating though, when so many lives were lost.
He worked on the 71st floor of the North Tower (the 1st tower hit), but their office was close to the only open/functioning stairwell – so they were able to get out quickly… He was there through everything. He also stayed 5 days digging and helping with the rescue efforts. So this is a VERY difficult time for us at home… we have made a family tradition of spending the day together, I take off from work, and next year we are keeping Zoe home from school so she can also be with us.
I worked in Mid Town, and had to walk home to Astoria/Queens as there was no transportation, took me 5 hours to get home. What I remember the most is the amount of people walking, shoulder to shoulder, but you did not hear a peep from anyone. All you heard were footsteps… it was so eerie. And I did not get to see any images on TV, all we had at work was a radio – and to hear the DJ’s broad casting live when the 2nd plane was coming in, the desperation in their voices – or the silence and the sobs we heard coming through the radio when the 1st tower fell… That is something I will never forget. The smell – I can never describe it to people either… Or when I got to the middle of the Queensboro bridge and looked over to where the Twin Towers used to stand tall and proud, and all we saw was billows of black smoke… my heart breaks again, every time I think about this.
But what I remember the most – was the love and sense of togetherness I felt in the days and months following this tragedy. Complete strangers would become your family… we were all so united. And this is the feeling we should never forget.
xo
Angel says
Thank you for sharing.
I was in high school and I remember the pandemonium – no one really knew what was happening. I remember parents rushing into the school grabbing their children – I thought it was odd since our small town in MI was not likely the next target. It wasn’t until I got home and realized the real gravity of the situation that it hit me (like you realizing where the smell was coming from) that those people likely knew someone who was in danger. Some of those people did not come to school the next day. Its amazing how far reaching of an impact that 9-11 had. Everyone knows someone.
When I got home, like most people who were not in NY, we sat silently in front of the TV in shock. I don’t remember going to bed. I know we didn’t eat dinner. It was liked the world stopped. When the towers fell it sucked the air out of the room. Unbelievable.
Bethany says
This was beautiful and hard to read. I can’t imagine how difficult it was to write. Thank you for sharing such a hard day for you. Thank you for helping all of us who so wanted to help and be there in some capacity understand what it was like for those that were. We will never forget, we will never take it lightly and we will love New York more for it’s heroism.
I hope you were able to heal through your words.
Emilie says
I’m french, and I was a kid at the time but I still remember that day . During my recent trip to New York, I could only imagine how horrible it must have been.
I’ve always been attracted to your beautiful country so reading your experience in this post really moves me, even though I live on the other side of the Atlantic !
(sorry for my bad english)
Vanessa says
I was just able to read this post and of course it brought tears to my eyes. I remember that day, I was 18 years old and just overwelmed with what was happening. I cannot imagine actually being in New York and seeing it first hand. Thank you for sharing and I pray we never forget the ones we lost.
Marianne says
Wow, what a story! Thank you for sharing! I saw the images, again, yesterday and it still makes me so sad! These events changed everything!
Stephanie @ The House on Hillbrook says
With tears in my eyes I just have to say what an amazing story. A life changing event for sure. I know it was for all of us but for those in NYC it was something more. Your words are so powerful. I visited NYC in 2009 and paid my respects to ground zero. Of course it was in construction but to stand in the spot were it all happened and were so many were lost, other than the birth of my three children, it was the most overwhelming experience of my life. Weak knees gave way to shaken legs and I wept. Flashbacks of news clips and you tube videos were playing in my mind. I just stayed there in one place in shock again. As a girl my dream was to move to NYC and even though I could never give up country life in NC there is a piece of my heart that will always be NYC forever!
Megan says
My goodness, I’m sorry you had to be there and go through that. Thank you so much for sharing your story.
Bailey says
Thank you for posting this…
Bailey
http://akabailey.blogspot.com
Leah McDonald says
This was so touching. I also lived in the city that day. It remains very difficult to talk about and your story is so similar to mine, it is a great account of the horror of that day. I’ve also left the city, but it will always be in my heart and so will the amazing generosity of everyone who lived there during that horrible time.
kharking says
This really is our generation’s equivalent to Pearl Harbor or the JFK assassination. No matter where we were, we remember. My aunt from upstate NY called us when the first tower was hit and we watched the rest live. There’s something about 12 years, isn’t there? I thought of it yesterday but it was the first year that I wasn’t holding my breath for another attack.
Maureen says
My son had called me a bit earlier in the morning to tell me he had just landed safely in Newark, and was continuing on to class at Fordham. Later on he would mention that his plane had circled over the towers about an hour before the attack. When he came out of class and started hearing about all that had happened, he called me and asked, what’s going on? I told him we were under attack — what else could I have said? He wanted to come home but I told him to go to his apartment — I could not imagine him going over bridges or through tunnels. At least he was safe. A friend of mine lost her husband that day and gave birth to their son a week later. No one escaped this, really. It’s as much a part of us than Pearl Harbor. More, really, as we watched it all happen before our eyes — and so many of our neighbors never came home that day.
My nephew, living in Belgium, could not reach anyone in his family and emailed me, panicked. All I could respond was: All heads counted, everyone safe. For which I will always be grateful. Always.
Tara says
Thank you for sharing your story! I pray it helped heal just a bit though one will never forget that life changing day for all of us.
Priscilla says
Thanks so much for sharing this story with us Sherry. I vividly remember receiving the 911 horrific news while doing crosswalk duty at the elementary school where I worked. As a teacher, it was a very difficult time because the children (and all of us), were so confused and scared. We just had to give them lots of love and support, making them feel safe again. Just thinking of that day brings up so much emotion.