story4265.xml
Title
story4265.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-11
911DA Story: Story
Last year on this day, I was working in the Ivory Coast in West Africa. I watched live with two colleagues as the third plane crashed into the Pentagon and as the first tower collapsed. My mother called from the US and gave me the little additional information that was available at the time.
The following days were very difficult. It was impossible to call the US to check on my friends in NY and Washington DC. Luckily, none of my friends or family members were directly affected that day.
September 11th coincided with an important professional meeting where I gave my first professional presentation. My thoughts were on crashing towers and I could hear the voices of those trapped, yet I successfully delivered my speech to a room filled with foreign government representatives. We spent the rest of the week in meetings, discussing project strategies. I felt very isolated by what had happened in the US and unable to take time to grieve until the following weekend. I am grateful to Eric Brown, a American friend and former colleague, who was in the Ivory Coast with me that weekend. I was finally able to talk about my feelings and cry with someone who understood how I felt.
This year, I am again abroad, in Guatemala where I currently live and work. One year ago, I swore to myself that I would spend this day in the US and yet I am not. My "absence" is partly intentional and partly lack of planning. I wish I were in the US today to feel a part of a community and be allowed to shed tears of sorrow and commiseration. Yet no matter how deeply my feelings run, life goes on and so do I.
From my office in Guatemala, I think of the men & women that lost their lives one year ago. I have held my private ceremony to mark this day and in spirit, I join the international community that remembers what happened today and ponders on how we have changed. I am grateful that America stands united. I am grateful to the individuals and foreign nations that have showed their support.
My sympathies go out to the families of those who perished and my respects to each and every person that helped alleviate the atrocities of that day. May God be with us all.
The following days were very difficult. It was impossible to call the US to check on my friends in NY and Washington DC. Luckily, none of my friends or family members were directly affected that day.
September 11th coincided with an important professional meeting where I gave my first professional presentation. My thoughts were on crashing towers and I could hear the voices of those trapped, yet I successfully delivered my speech to a room filled with foreign government representatives. We spent the rest of the week in meetings, discussing project strategies. I felt very isolated by what had happened in the US and unable to take time to grieve until the following weekend. I am grateful to Eric Brown, a American friend and former colleague, who was in the Ivory Coast with me that weekend. I was finally able to talk about my feelings and cry with someone who understood how I felt.
This year, I am again abroad, in Guatemala where I currently live and work. One year ago, I swore to myself that I would spend this day in the US and yet I am not. My "absence" is partly intentional and partly lack of planning. I wish I were in the US today to feel a part of a community and be allowed to shed tears of sorrow and commiseration. Yet no matter how deeply my feelings run, life goes on and so do I.
From my office in Guatemala, I think of the men & women that lost their lives one year ago. I have held my private ceremony to mark this day and in spirit, I join the international community that remembers what happened today and ponders on how we have changed. I am grateful that America stands united. I am grateful to the individuals and foreign nations that have showed their support.
My sympathies go out to the families of those who perished and my respects to each and every person that helped alleviate the atrocities of that day. May God be with us all.
Collection
Citation
“story4265.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 9, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/19348.