story3012.xml
Title
story3012.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-11
911DA Story: Story
It seems like yesterday That bright blue day one year ago. And it is still so close because New York is my home.
No, I was not near ground zero- 92nd Street and West End, where I work, is a long way away. Even further away is Harlem and my brownstone. I was putting on my sandals to come to work when ABC announced that a plane had just hit the first tower.
There was no panic then because like others I figured it was probably a little twin engine deal that had veered off course. But like other New Yorkers I knew this meant a change in the way things would be run that day. The subways would be off, there would be no mail delivery. If you have lived in New York a while you think they'll use any excuse.
But I knew also that I had to call my parents in Atlanta and tell them we were fine. I ran to the top floor to tell my oldest daughter not to go to Long Island to class that day- she may not be able to get back. She was fuzzy with sleep as I explained why. Then I ran back to my bedroom and sat on my bed to call my parents. That when the second plane hit.
Suddenly I felt the need to go to work, to be with my other family. My husband was safe at work in Westchester County, my older daughter at home, but work was 11 blocks from my youngest daughter's junior high and I wanted to get her and take her home.
Things were still calm and fresh in my mind. In Harlem the effects had not been felt yet so when I boarded the bus I was surprised to hear that several passengers had no idea what was going on. But as we went down Broadway to 135th Street to make a right hand turn we could see the elevated subway tracks leading to the 125th stop. All the trains were standing still. In fact, nowhere in New York city was a train moving. Many people were stuck for hours underground. Many people barely got out of the last train to go under the towers.
By the time I got to work a mere ten minutes later the air had changed. There was a smell of something burning and there were helicopters everywhere.
We were in the middle of a war zone.
When the towers crashed our phone system died. The eight of us watched on tv and wrapped our arms around each other and cried. So many lives lost and for no reason.
We didn't understandbut we soon disbanded to find our loved ones. Along with monay parents that had walked a long way, I signed my daughter out of school and took her hand and walked home.
It was a long walk home without looking back. Buses passed that were full and couldn't stop. No one complained. No one honked a horn, no one cursed in anger at the slow moving traffic. I walked with people I didn't know who smiled at me because they were alive. We were alive. But unlike the woman turned to a pillar of salt in the bible no one looked back.
We were 20 blocks from home when a bus that wasn't full stopped and picked us up. No charge, the driver said and smiled. Lots of smiles from people just want ing to get home. A boy sitting next to me was supposed to be in court that day, but the court was closed. He didn't want to go to jail, would they hold his hearing again. I assured this young man that they would. I told him the whole world was going to be on hold for a while. He didn't know about the plane in Pennsylvania or the plane that hit the Pentagon. He had been stuck underground on a train.
Harlem at night lights up like a party. It is alive with people and noise. But on 9/11 when I went outside to look into the sky there was not one soul out on my block. I looked up into the beautiful night sky and saw our protection flying overhead. I had already stopped watching the news and started watching my daughters, little woman unnerved by a world at war that I never knew.
I tried to give myself one memory to carry with me about that day for the rest of my life. And today a year later as the wind blows wildly and we grieve and remember I take out that thought to hold onto:
September 11, 2001 was the most beautiful day that I have ever seen. Not since then has there been another day like it and I thank God for that.
No, I was not near ground zero- 92nd Street and West End, where I work, is a long way away. Even further away is Harlem and my brownstone. I was putting on my sandals to come to work when ABC announced that a plane had just hit the first tower.
There was no panic then because like others I figured it was probably a little twin engine deal that had veered off course. But like other New Yorkers I knew this meant a change in the way things would be run that day. The subways would be off, there would be no mail delivery. If you have lived in New York a while you think they'll use any excuse.
But I knew also that I had to call my parents in Atlanta and tell them we were fine. I ran to the top floor to tell my oldest daughter not to go to Long Island to class that day- she may not be able to get back. She was fuzzy with sleep as I explained why. Then I ran back to my bedroom and sat on my bed to call my parents. That when the second plane hit.
Suddenly I felt the need to go to work, to be with my other family. My husband was safe at work in Westchester County, my older daughter at home, but work was 11 blocks from my youngest daughter's junior high and I wanted to get her and take her home.
Things were still calm and fresh in my mind. In Harlem the effects had not been felt yet so when I boarded the bus I was surprised to hear that several passengers had no idea what was going on. But as we went down Broadway to 135th Street to make a right hand turn we could see the elevated subway tracks leading to the 125th stop. All the trains were standing still. In fact, nowhere in New York city was a train moving. Many people were stuck for hours underground. Many people barely got out of the last train to go under the towers.
By the time I got to work a mere ten minutes later the air had changed. There was a smell of something burning and there were helicopters everywhere.
We were in the middle of a war zone.
When the towers crashed our phone system died. The eight of us watched on tv and wrapped our arms around each other and cried. So many lives lost and for no reason.
We didn't understandbut we soon disbanded to find our loved ones. Along with monay parents that had walked a long way, I signed my daughter out of school and took her hand and walked home.
It was a long walk home without looking back. Buses passed that were full and couldn't stop. No one complained. No one honked a horn, no one cursed in anger at the slow moving traffic. I walked with people I didn't know who smiled at me because they were alive. We were alive. But unlike the woman turned to a pillar of salt in the bible no one looked back.
We were 20 blocks from home when a bus that wasn't full stopped and picked us up. No charge, the driver said and smiled. Lots of smiles from people just want ing to get home. A boy sitting next to me was supposed to be in court that day, but the court was closed. He didn't want to go to jail, would they hold his hearing again. I assured this young man that they would. I told him the whole world was going to be on hold for a while. He didn't know about the plane in Pennsylvania or the plane that hit the Pentagon. He had been stuck underground on a train.
Harlem at night lights up like a party. It is alive with people and noise. But on 9/11 when I went outside to look into the sky there was not one soul out on my block. I looked up into the beautiful night sky and saw our protection flying overhead. I had already stopped watching the news and started watching my daughters, little woman unnerved by a world at war that I never knew.
I tried to give myself one memory to carry with me about that day for the rest of my life. And today a year later as the wind blows wildly and we grieve and remember I take out that thought to hold onto:
September 11, 2001 was the most beautiful day that I have ever seen. Not since then has there been another day like it and I thank God for that.
Collection
Citation
“story3012.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed April 7, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/11196.