Remembering 13 years later

My son was given a History project. He was asked to interview someone about 9-11-01 and the terrorist attacks- The example was given that everyone of a certain age remembered where they were when Kennedy was shot....  My son and his classmates have no memories of 9-11, they are all too young... Just as I have no memory of Kennedy... his assassination was history when I was born.

I have to say, the questions were not easy, and the memories flooded back....

Where were you and who were you with when you heard the World Trade Center had been attacked:

It was a Tuesday morning, I had stopped at the grammar school to vote in the Primary that morning and I was in my office at a special needs preschool  in the Bronx. I was meeting with a parent, when someone said there had been an explosion at the World Trade Center and one of the Twin Towers was engulfed in flames. 

How did you hear about it? What were you doing?

Because all the antennas were on the tower that was on fire, all the local stations went offline, so we watched Telemundo out of Patterson NJ- a Spanish Channel. Later in the day all the cable channels broadcast without encryption so people knew what was going on.

What were the first thoughts that went through your head?

I tried to call my cousin- her husband worked in that part of Manhattan and I wanted to know if she had heard from him. I also told my boss I would pick up my child and come back, and stay till all the children were picked up- with the roads and bridges all closed, I knew we would be there late waiting to reunite families.

Describe your feelings as events unfolded. Did they change as time went on?

At first I focused on getting my daughter and getting back to school to safely get all the children home. I worried about my cousin’s husband. On the way back, the police had all the highway entrances blocked, and I heard on the radio that the first tower collapsed. The Pentagon was hit. Air traffic was shut down. The second tower collapsed

We were at the school till almost six. We listened to Mayor Giuliani talk about the losses being more than we could bear. NYC was closed for business- no school no work no airplanes. It was a deafening silence. And when the wind shifted, we could smell the burning pile. And the military jets overhead were unnerving.

And then we found out who was missing- so many guys I grew up with- ESU cops and firefighters. Some stock brokers. There was so much sadness, so much loss. And yet so many miracles- Billy who missed a train, Colleen who changed her outfit and ran late, Mike, my cousin’s husband, who safely evacuated and was physically unharmed.

How did the attacks affect you in the long run? Did they change you in any way and have any lasting impact?

September 11 wasn’t just a day for those of us living in New York, and while over a decade has passed, I still feel like it was yesterday. It was hard to live in NYC afterwards, and we moved to Ohio 5 years later. I still miss the men I knew that were lost that day, but I am proud to have known them.

 13 years later and it feels like only moments have passed.... Today I remember....