story7406.xml

story7406.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-14

As usual, I was listening to IMUS In The Morning on WFAN. I prefer the feed from his New York station over his local affiliate. As I was driving south through Windsor, CT I heard Imus say something about a plane hitting the World Trade Towers. Having vacationed in New York and having visited the WTC with my husband and two children just the month before, my blood immediately ran cold with the "what if" scenario that ran through my mind. Mr. Imus introduced regular contibutor Warner Wolf to offer comments on what he had seen and heard. At that point, I thought it was just one of his "bits", this could not really be true - then, quickly, I realized it was real. Still, it had to be an accident. At that point I had arrived at the Federal Court House building in Hartford to go into my meeting. I said good morning to the Federal Marshals and told them the news that I had just heard. This was the first that they had heard of it. Still, I dismissed it as an accident. Since most people were already at the meeting location, I shared the news I had heard, no one yet knew the gravity of the situation. After my meeting was concluded, I called my mother's travel agency from a hallway pay phone to find out if she had heard the news, approximately 1 hour had passed. As I spoke with one of her agents, Barbara Mango, Barbara was extremely aggitated about what was still not known to be an attack. Barbara narrated the news report she was watching, as I spoke with Barb, the second plane hit the second tower, the reaction that Barb had was, and still is, indescribable. It was clear now that our country was under some sort of attack. I got sick to my stomach, hung up the phone and went to my car, pausing only moments to have a parting conversation with the Marshals about the event apparently unfolding that day. The drive home seemed to take an eternity. My son was in school and my daughter was with her nanny playing with some friends. When I got home I called our nanny to tell her I would pick up my daughter early, but first, I wanted to watch the news to get updated before the kids came home, those were images I could not bear to have them watch. It was at that time that the first tower fell. My first thought was about my high school friend Christopher Blackwell. I knew, just knew without any confirmation at that very moment that Chris was not only there, but was in the Tower when it fell. Chris was already decorated for his valor by the New York City Fire Department. Even if it was not his shift, nothing would have kept him from being one of the first ones in to rescue the innocense. How right I was. Chris was a member of heroic Rescue 3. I could not watch any more. I left the house, picked up my daughter, then my son at school. It was difficult not turning on the television to watch the updates as they came in, but those were images I did no want my children to see, not just yet. I sat down with paper and crayons and told my children the news of the towers falling. We got out our vacation photos and turned to the pages with us at the top of the Twin Towers. I told them that they are not there anymore, that someone had knocked them down. Then I let them watch one sequency of news footage and turned off the TV. The children spent the rest of the day drawing pictures, some quite profound. I will save those pictures always.