September 11 Digital Archive

lc_story164.xml

Title

lc_story164.xml

Source

born-digital

Media Type

story

Created by Author

yes

Described by Author

no

Date Entered

2003-12-22

LC Story: Story

Sept. 11, 2001

I was working in a store when a customer walked in and asked if we heard about the planes crashing into the World Trade Center in New York City. The restaurant next door had a TV so I walked over to watch the mayhem. I'm a New Yorker, born and raised in Brooklyn. I moved to Maryland when I got married in 1969. Once a New Yorker always a New Yorker. It's in your blood. I went back to the shop and unfortunately it was business as usual. BUSINESS AS USUAL!! Were they nuts. MY New York was being attacked.

My cousin works in New York and he saw the planes hit the towers. He knew immediately it was not an accident, but an assult because of the way the planes deliberately crashed into the buildings. He saw the people jump from the towers. He said the press was very conservative with their coverage of the jumpers. Thank God. Martin (my cousin) had to walk home from downtown Manhattan, across the Brooklyn Bridge to Maspeth, Queens.

LC Story: Memory

My strongest memory of that day was my boss' attitude that it was business as usual. The whole world was changing before our eyes. How could anything ever be "usual" again.

I lost my 22 year old son, Patrick, in a road rage incident on June 23, 2000. I could relate with the people who lost loved ones on 911. I felt their pain, anger and grief.

LC Story: Affects

I think Americans turned to a higher power for comfort. I'm a Catholic so it reaffirmed my belief that things of this world are only temporary and God has plans we do not forsee. Free will controls our actions, be it good or evil and God does not interfere. I hoped that the highjackers were in Hell with the devil.

I still visit New York and my family. I still ride the subways and walk the streets of Manhattan. That will never change. I love New York and the strength and courage of the people living and working in the city. I think 911 took away our sense of security. The United States was vulnerable.

Citation

“lc_story164.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 23, 2024, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/401.