story4748.xml

story4748.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

Between 8:30-8:46am I was on the Northern State Parkway on my way to work. It was a typical day, until I was sitting in traffic and heard the news on the radio. I thought it was some kinda sick joke, but then realized, "its probably a small plane". Well, I was wrong. When I got to work the whole office was in a state of confusion, listening to the radio, shusshing us as we walked in. Then the phone wouldnt stop ringing, anyone who new anyone was calling. I didnt know what to think, but the first thing I did was call my husband. Then I started scanning the names of people I knew in my head who could've been there. I thought of many. You see, my "extended" family, including my husband, are all in the volenteer firehouse in our town. And a few of these people are FDNY or NYPD. Thats when my heart hurt. We all gathered in one office and just listened to the radio. Then we saw the smoke....we knew it was time to go home to our families.
The day continued as everyone gathered at the firehouse for stand by. "Where they gonna go?" We didnt know, we just waited and prayed they didnt. It all became real to me as we stood outside and saw 3 fighter jets fly by. Thats how I knew this was real.
Turned out that everyone we knew became acounted for... except one. Terry Farrell. He worked at Rescue 4 in Queens. We waited together for word for days, weeks, and then one month turned into almost 2, and then they found him. The hurt came back so hard, it knocked me over. But, somehow, someway, there was closer.
It's one year to date that we lost our friend, and the hurt comes back just as hard as it did then. We miss him terribly, and would give anything, just to have that chance to say goodbye. He leaves behind a wife and 2 children, and many, many beloved friends.