story7116.xml

story7116.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-13

My story is not unique, but maybe recounting the tale will not only help me to heal, but relay the hope it conveys. A higher being was guiding many of us that day.

I had been working for AIG in lower Manhattan for 5 years. My morning commute was pretty much business as usual except for the fact that only a few days prior, I discovered that I was 5 weeks pregnant with my 2nd child. My husband, who normally works on Long Island, had a meeting in mid-town that day & we decided we?d meet each other in Penn Station & ride home together at the end of the day.

I arrived at my desk at 8:15 as usual. I went to the cafeteria of 175 Water to get my breakfast. When I returned to my desk, I heard through word of mouth that an aircraft has hit the World Trade Center. I ran to the South side of the floor & looked out the window & watched the plume of smoke rising. While many of my fellow floor-mates and I watched the Tower burn, there was a second explosion. We all thought that it was a blast related to the first collision, but one of the on-lookers was listening to the radio & he announced that it was a second plane. At that very moment, we all knew in our hearts that the first collision wasn?t an accident.

I walked calmly back to my desk & called my brother who works for Marsh in mid-town. He had a direct view of the Towers from his desk & watched the second plane hit. While I was on the phone with him, the emergency alarms sounded & they began to evacuate our building. Outside the building, it was snowing papers & ash. Hoards of people were running towards us from the west side of the island. Emergency sirens were blaring from all directions. When our Fire Safety Director declared our building closed, I high-tailed it to the nearest subway station & fled lower Manhattan. My main goal was to find my husband in mid-town & get home.

When I arrived in Penn Station, Long Island Rail Road trains were still running, however, for some reason, I was waiting for a train to my specific destination instead of just getting on the first train out. Penn Station closed before my train came in. While I was waiting I caught word from a passer-by that the South Tower collapsed. I then heard that a plane hit the Pentagon as well. All I kept thinking was that we?re in the middle of a war & I?m stuck in a hole in the ground. When the authorities evacuated Penn Station, I was back out on the street not knowing when & where the next attack will come. I walked to where my husband?s meeting was supposed to take place only to find a sign on the door & everyone gone. I had no way of contacting my family or friends & felt very alone. I felt a strong need to protect myself & my unborn child & the only thing I could do was walk back to Penn Station & wait for it to re-open. I was among tens thousands of people wandering around mid town, totally lost in thought, grief & shock. My trance was suddenly broken when I heard my name called out & there was my husband, also among the thousands.

I have fought with the idea of ?God? for many years of my adult life, but I now believe that that moment could not have occurred if some Supreme Being wasn?t leading us to each other. In May 2002, I had a healthy baby boy. Someday I will tell him this story so he knows he was part of this day in history as well.

To all of those who were not led to your loved ones that day, my heart truly goes out to you. There are no words to express the grief & shock I still experience. I knew many people who perished. I still follow planes with my eyes and I still feel uncomfortable when I hear sirens or loud ?explosive? noises. Although I have tried to maintain a ?normal? life in the wake of 9/11, my life will ever be as it was on 9/10.