story69.xml

story69.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-02-20

It was horrific to know that what I thought was debris were people jumping from the building. I remember that a few hours later, we were sent home and as I walked home (thankfully, I only live a few blocks from where I work), I was amazed at the amount of people on the street. It was akin to an exodus from the City. I also remember that planes flew over-head and that all of us stopped and looked up. We all seemed to have the same thought -- is it one of ours?

After watching hours of television, I knew I had to do something. I guess my father was right when he told my sisters and me that a second language would come in handy. Having a very close, working relationship with the Red Cross, I called them and headed out to Bellevue. I remember having a sticker placed on my jacket that identified me as ?Translator--Spanish/Espa?ol?. It was total chaos and I remember my husband coming to the location I was standing at and telling me we had to go home. I had been there for approximately 8 hours -- on my feet -- and I didn?t even realize it. I came back the following morning and started volunteering again. I remember the hush that fell over the area I was at as one of the first of many refrigerator cars approached the hospital. Thereafter, the decision was made to move operations to the Armory.

I went to the Armory and just remember working; taking names; assisting in filling out forms; listening to people; trying to help. My employer was incredibly understanding, affording me the opportunity to help. I think they knew that this was my way of healing my internal feelings. I also remember going through debriefing before and after volunteering, however, if you were to ask me what we discussed, I could not really tell you.

I continued volunteering until Friday, 9/14 and I guess what I remember the most is an elderly woman coming to me for assistance. By that time, we were already asking for anything that would help the identification process. The woman became very pensive at one point and said, ?You know -- my husband is not a man that is really important in that place. He just washes dishes. But he?s important to me. Do you think you will be able to find him?? I had no answer except to tell her we were doing all that was possible and thinking how empty that sounded.

At some point, the determination was made that professional grief counselors would be brought in that were language-specific. In the back of my mind, I knew that I could not continue my volunteering. I was becoming too emotional to be of any help much longer and I was not sleeping. Friday night, I went home, slept for about 5 hours, woke and learned that my son, who is a Navy Seal, had gone ?underground.? I decided to go back to sleep. It healed a little but it wasn?t until I heard from him this past week, that I can say I have slept soundly.