story6477.xml

story6477.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-12

My daughter and I travelled to Hempstead from Glen Cove for a Section 8 appointment in a government building. I do not have a radio in my car so I was surprised when the security guard turned us away, giving us another appointment to come in. I had confirmed the appointment before taking the 40 minute trip. He said that we were under attack and that two planes had hit the World Trade Centers, and that no, did it look like he was kidding - I couldn't believe it!! So I went outside into the very large, clear parking lot and looked towards the city at the horizon and there was all the smoke ( we are only about 10 or 20 miles away). My 4-year-old daughter Naomi asked me if we were going to die now and I said no, doing what I could to comfort her. On all TV's on the street, all the radios and all anyone standing around talked about was the WTC. One man had just driven his truck from the area and had been hit by debris but was ok. No one knew what was happening, but all I could think about was getting home to my other children. As soon as we arrived in Glen Cove the phone rang and my 12-year-old son Nile, hysterical on the other end, told me he was out of school and at his father's house and that 10 or 12 planes were still unaccounted for (rumors exploded). I told him to relax and stay there till his father got home and not to listen to rumors - wait for the facts and stay by the phone. He was in Glen Head. Three neighborhood firemen never returned home that day, a child at the North Shore Middle School lost a handful of immediate family members, including both parents (he was pulled out of the school and went to live with grandparents) and a neighbor's child returned home safely, being one of the first to catch the ferry from the city where she was in school across the street from the WTC. A couple from Brooklyn came in to stay with her parents because they couldn't breathe in their apartment. Before they left they picked up a piece of paper floating to the ground and it was a 4 million dollar Peruvian bond. A couple of days later I woke up and jumped out of bed because I thought the house was on fire - then I realized the wind just was blowing in our direction. There was a small little memorial built at Crescent Beach, where smoke billowed for weeks on the horizon. I have never been able to go to Ground Zero, though my four children did. I feel like I've been close enough. God Bless Everyone. -Debbie Borgono