nmah363.xml

nmah363.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-08-21

On the morning of September 11th, I was still in bed in my New York City apartment, trying to sleep after a poor night's attempt at it. The phone rang, and I let the machine answer. It was my mother in a worried tone. Somewhat annoyed that she was calling so early, I stumbled out of bed and got to the phone. "Turn on your television," she said. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Immediately, my thoughts turned to my girlfriend, who worked in the World Financial Center next to the Twin Towers. Unable to reach her at work or by cell phone, I left a message on her apartment answering machine, crying all throughout. I later learned from her sister that she made it back safely on the ferry. Then a friend of mine called - he worked in the building across from the Twin Towers and needed somewhere to go. Several hours later, he showed up at my apartment - sweating, limping, and caked in dirt. It looked like he had been through a war. When we went to the supermarket to get him an icepack for his leg, it was eerily quiet on the streets. Outside my apartment, we could see the National Guard stationed, with streams of commuters walking down Avenue C. FDR Drive was empty, except for the ambulances, fire trucks, and police cars heading down to Ground Zero. My friend spent the night at my place, and went back to his family the next morning.