Remembering Sept. 11th, 2001

Here's a sketch for those of you who don't already know where I was.

On 9/11/01, I was working at a brokerage firm in Times Square, roughly 5 miles from the World Trade Center. 

I remember that it was a beautiful day outside, a perfect 80 degrees and sunny.

It was a co-worker's birthday, people brought in balloons and cards at 8:30 am, she was happy, everyone in good spirits.

About 20 minutes later, things changed.  The phones were ringing off the hook, the Internet was completely inaccessible, and there were murmerings and people racing around.

When we finally figured out that the first tower had been hit, we thought that some poor pilot made a mistake, but when heard that a second plane had hit, we knew something went terribly wrong.

My co-workers and I took the elevator to the 30th floor of the building, where there was a large lobby with many TV's.  We stood in shock, then horror at the images before us: the towers were burning.  Then, more bad news, the Pentagon was hit.  I can recall thinking, oh my God, this is war.

Then, my friend Joletia told me to walk around the corner and look out of the window.  From there we saw the towers burning.  We could not believe our eyes.
Around us, people were scrambling to use the phones, some cell phones were still working, people yelling, trying to find friends and family.

I just stared.  This couldn't possibly be real! Before I even had the time to take in the image before me, the first tower fell.  Screams heard all around me.  People were frantic now.  How could one of the towers fall? It's NOT possible.

Pure chaos.  I could not look out the window any longer.  There were rumors that another plane was headed for the Empire State Building, just 8 blocks away.  It was time to go.  I tried to call my mother, who told me just to get home as quickly as I could.  I told her that the subways and buses were closed, as in, not leaving Manhattan, and said I'd be better off going to my friends' office on 52nd and Lex.  My friend Will was also stuck, he told me to come to his office. 

My friends/co-workers and I took the elevator back to the 14th floor to collect our things.  We made a brief stop in the bathroom.  I don't remember who cried first, but we all just held one another sobbing.

We got down to the lobby and looked out onto 42nd Street: swarms of people in the street.  We walked outside, it was unreal.  Some people just stood in the middle of the street, looking up at the Live News cast on a large TV above a building, others read the Wall Street Journal news headlines on the building across the street.  People tried desperately to use their cell phones, but after the second tower collapsed, all cell phones went dead. (the antennas were on top of WTC).

We had no place to go.  All the trains were closed, no buses, no taxis could get us out of Manhattan.  We headed to a diner.  I got a beer and watched the news in disbelief.

It took over 3 hours before 3 subway lines were re-opened.  I was fortunate, I took the train.  I exited in Brooklyn, just a few blocks from the Manhattan Bridge.  I had never seen such a sight, thousands of people walking across the Manhattan bridge in order to get home.  On the Brooklyn side of the bridge, students from Long Island University gave out cups of water, a first aid station was set up, and people were tended to.

Some people were crying, all were in shock.

I remember riding the subways for weeks afterwards, and people bursting into tears spontaneously.  The newspaper headlines with pictures of families searching for loved ones, and lists upon lists of people who died.  You could see the smoldering smoke from Brooklyn, from the train...the worst part was walking through the train stations with the "Missing" signs, mothers, fathers, children, friends, pleading for information about whether their loved ones were alive or not.

But I will never forget the smell.  The smell of burning buildings, plastics, metals, humans...it was dizzying.  My friend, a firefighter told me of search and rescue dogs who fell into despair b/c the could not find any living people, dogs who got injured while searching through glass and sharp objects-firefighters working 12-24 hour shifts, desperately searching for survivors.

Chuck, the firefighter, cried several times a day, every day for weeks.  He was completely exhausted and shattered.  He wanted to be a firefighter from the time he was a boy, but after working in the field for less than a year, he wanted nothing more to do with it.

Remembering that day...it feels like it was not so long ago.  I was fortunate that neither myself, family, or friends were injured or killed on that day, but I know that thousands of others were not so lucky.  It was a very surreal day, a day that I, and countless others, will never forget.

God Bless.