story659.xml
Title
story659.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-05-21
911DA Story: Story
Ordinarily, the TV wouldn't have been on at that hour. Being self-employed working from my home, having the TV on just isn't conducive to getting work done. But my mom was visiting from Phoenix, and would be leaving within a couple of hours for home (via airplane, of course), and we were waiting for weather updates and passing the time.
Initial reports and shots of a burning WTC-1 didn't get me too worked up, I mean, they'll have a way to take care of that problem. I mean, this is NYC!
But as the story unfolded, my dismay at watching the second one crash into WTC-2 -- well, I remembered an identical feeling when Challenger blew up years ago -- an insult to my mind that had my brain reeling from the impact... Graphic images tortured my soul, yet I couldn't turn away.
The fact that events kept unfolding faster than I could grasp them -- panic was beginning to envelope me. What would be next?
Of course we heard the news of the grounding of the planes. Mom had rented a car, so she just hopped in and headed for Phoenix. And I was all alone watching the buildings come down. Don't know as I've ever felt so alone in the middle of calamity.
Never did get much work done that day...
I won't ever be the same again, and I won't ever forget.
Initial reports and shots of a burning WTC-1 didn't get me too worked up, I mean, they'll have a way to take care of that problem. I mean, this is NYC!
But as the story unfolded, my dismay at watching the second one crash into WTC-2 -- well, I remembered an identical feeling when Challenger blew up years ago -- an insult to my mind that had my brain reeling from the impact... Graphic images tortured my soul, yet I couldn't turn away.
The fact that events kept unfolding faster than I could grasp them -- panic was beginning to envelope me. What would be next?
Of course we heard the news of the grounding of the planes. Mom had rented a car, so she just hopped in and headed for Phoenix. And I was all alone watching the buildings come down. Don't know as I've ever felt so alone in the middle of calamity.
Never did get much work done that day...
I won't ever be the same again, and I won't ever forget.
Collection
Citation
“story659.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 17, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/12128.