9-11 -- 9/11/02 MEMORIES

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Date Posted: 13:03:06 07/11/02 Thu
Author: SN
Subject: 9-11

My husband and I were married two weeks before September 11th at the Tribeca Rooftop in Manhattan overlooking the twin towers. We spent our wedding weekend at the Millenium Hotel (across the street from the WTC) as did many of our friends and family. We encouraged our guests to visit the trade center's mall, have lunch on the promenade and take in the beauty of the twin towers. I am so thankful that our out of town guests had one last opportunity to see the downtown area before it was destroyed.

On September 10th I returned back to work at One World Financial Center - September 11th was my second day back. I was a little late that day so I decided not to stop for iced coffee at the coffee stand on Liberty Street - directly across from the trade center - as I did everyday. When I reached my office on the 39th floor - the first plane had just struck. I could see the flames shooting out of the building from my window. I called my father and told him to turn on the tv - something "bad" had just happened to the World Trade Center. I asked him to call my husband, who was home from work that day, and tell him that I am evacuating, but, that I am ok. A group of us from my department walked down the stairs which let us out on to West Street - just as the second plane hit. We opened the emergency door and saw debris flying by us. Some chose to stay - I chose to run. I ran south into Battery Park City and could not comprehend what had happened - all of the people in the street with looks of utter confusion and horror. Cell phones were not working and I wanted to call my husband to let him know I was alright - and more importantly to find out what was going on. A dry cleaners in Battery Park City was nice enough to open their private phones to anyone who needed to us them. My husband told me it was a terrorist attack and I needed to get out of Battery Park City and head home. I couldn't find any of my co-workers at the time and frankly hoped they would put out the fire and we'd be let back into the building. I began my walk home to the Upper East Side. Walking up Water Street I could still see the flames from the towers and as much as I didn't want to look - I was compelled. It was just so unbelievable. About 20 minutes into my walk, I wanted to call my husband again to check in. The lines for the pay phones were at least 15-20 people long. I was in Chinatown - when all of a sudden everyone stopped what they were doing and looked over at the tower that was collapsing. It was a horrific sight. I did manage to get on a payphone at that point and spoke to my husband who was beside himself, having no idea where I was when that tower came down. I joined a group of about 50 people heading uptown and continued my journey home. People with hand held radios were shouting out the latest news about the Pentagon and the unaccounted planes still out there. I finally got home at 11:30 am (2 hours and 45 minutes after the first plane hit) and just collapsed in my husband's arms as we cried and cried, thanking god that we were safe.

I still think about that day - every day. I am one of the fortunate ones - and I thank god I was able to get out of that area as quickly as I did. My company never moved back to the World Financial Center, and thankfully, out of 2100 employees, 2100 came home. Our wedding pictures have become a part of history - as the twin towers served as the backdrop for many of our formal photos. Again, I am one of the fortunate ones.

Thank you for reading this - it helps to write about it.

God bless America - God Bless New York.

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