story8169.xml

story8169.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-27

Of coarse like the rest of the country I to will never forget every detail of September 11, 2001. But the thing that stands out the most is the weather in New York that day. It was a picture perfect day. I arrived at work about 8:35 a.m. (Everyone else comes in about 9) got my desk set up, turned on the computer and as every morning read Newsday online. The headlines first read "small plane crashes into Trade Center" I did'nt really think too much of it at that moment I was thinking single engine plane maybe a 2 seater.

But as my co-workers were coming in the story was starting to change. One girl was on the phone with her husband as he watched live on TV the second plane hit. We were all getting nervous. I personally was worried about my step niece and her two small girls who lived in the buildig next to the towers and her husband who worked on the 50th floor of tower 1.

Another girl's mother worked in one of the buildings behind the towers. She was desperatly trying to reach her but we could not get a dial tone on our phones. Then someone from another office popped their head into our office and told us the Pentagon had been hit. I started to tremble and needed to be home with my husband and children. I felt so vulnerable and I think we were all wondering what else was going to happen. So we all decided to leave.

While I was driving home I was listening to WABC AM. There werent many cars on the road it was almost like the calm before the storm, and just as I was passing the mall they made an anouncement that tower 2 just fell. I was looking at passing motorist and they were looking back at me with the same look of disbeleif and tears streaming down our faces. I almost wanted to reach out to them, but kept driving.

I met my mother & husband at home and we took the kids to my brothers. There we sat and waited to hear from my sister in laws daughter. My sister in law was hysterical until the call came in at 1:00 pm. My step niece was ok. We had her on speaker phone as she relayed the events she went through. Nobody said a word, we just sat there and listend to her tell us how she heard the first plane hit, and how thank god she was running late getting the kids off to school that day, and how her husband just happened to be in Atlantic City. And then how she described seeing people jumping to their death, even a whole group holding hands and jumping together. As she described every gory detail, because she was still in a state of shock, we all sat there and cried as her voice rang out through the room over the speaker phone. She described in detail how she and her 2 young girls had to run for their lives and thank god they were picked up by a man in a pickup truck (bless him)

After that we headed home. As we pulled into the driveway about 3:00 we could see F14's flying right over our house. What a strange feeling. My 10 year old ran into the house. When I came in I found her in her Pajamas in bed under the covers. That said so much to me. She just wanted to go to bed and wake up and let September 11, 2001 be over. If only it were that simple.