story4790.xml
Title
story4790.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-11
911DA Story: Story
(Journal Entry E-mailed to Friends and Family on September 11, 2001)
Today is horrified, stagnant waiting. I got the call at 7:11am this Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001. My mom woke me up to make sure I was OK and tell me not to go downtown. In my groggy state I heard her rambling on in a nearly crying state of shock and panic about the New York World Trade Center and crashing planes and the Pentagon, but it seemed like a foggy recollection of a b-rated, sci-fi film. I thought that it was touching that she was worried, yet unjustified. But when Ryan asked me why my mom had called and I started repeating some of the things that she had told me, "top of north World Trade Center tower collapsed" "another plane flew into the second World Trade Center tower" "Pentagon attacked" "no US outbound flights allowed in the skies for the first time in history" ... I saw the look on his face, and its severity and devastation finally hit me.
We hurried, dazed, to turn on the television and see for ourselves what was happening. Ryan said, "Brad used to work there," and I said, "Brad lived there, and so do so many others." We clutched our cups of coffee with our eyes glued to the confusing images on the screen and our mouths agape. We could only see one tower, due to the smoke, but soon realized that the tower we couldn't see had actually collapsed. I will never forget the repeated image of a large commercial plane flying directly into the side of tower two, the very tower where I once stood and gazed at the spectacular, sprawling New York skyline. Shortly thereafter, the live coverage showed the second tower collapsing. I had taken a bite of my bagel, but had to choke it down because I suddenly felt nauseous. Paralyzed, I witnessed hundreds, if not thousands, of people dying. In addition to the people on the plane and in the building that must have died, people were jumping from the top of the building, trying to escape. Incomprehensible.
My mother called again, and I immediately bumbled my words, trying to tell her that I was sorry - in the groggy state in which she had originally told me about the situation, I did not understand its magnitude. She went on to tell me not to worry about Robin, that she was OK. In my state of shock, I had forgotten that my little sister Robin was in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Another hijacked plane had crashed in her vicinity, and Robin and her co-workers were evacuated from their building, the largest tower between New York and Chicago (and therefore a building suspected to be in danger).
My co-workers were evacuated from their building, a block from the Chicago Board of Trade - obviously a potential threat to the safety of our friends in Chicago. My thoughts also immediately turned to my friends working in the Hancock building in Chicago - Helen, Mike, Barb, Gayle and everyone else at Near North. Ryan reached Brad via AIM. He was stunned. Fumin also sent us an instant message. At 11:39pm on a Tuesday night in Singapore, he witnessed these terrible events from the other side of the world.
All day I have just stared at the reports on TV. From time to time, I am overcome with grief and just cry over the horror of it all. There is a feeling that it's not over and a terror of what could happen next. If the Pentagon and the World Trade Towers were vulnerable, what isn't? Much of downtown Seattle is shutdown - the Space Needle, the Pacific Science Center, the airport (obviously - like every other airport across the country), the largest skyscrapers and all of the government agencies. Ferries are not taking any cars. Navy war vessels are now parked in our harbors. Amtrack trains and Greyhound busses are halted. The sound of sirens hasn't stopped all day. I think I'll hear those warning cries in my sleep. Another World Trade building in downtown New York has just collapsed, due to the other nearby collapses/explosions, and World Trade Building No. 6 is expected to fall shortly. Wall Street is shut down until Thursday - extreme measures that have never been taken before. Our borders to both Mexico and Canada are under heavy surveillance.
I fear to stop watching. I fear to continue watching. I don't know what I will wake up to tomorrow. The sound of an aircraft flying low right now made me hold my breath. The land of the free feels trapped, and everyone waits.
Today is horrified, stagnant waiting. I got the call at 7:11am this Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001. My mom woke me up to make sure I was OK and tell me not to go downtown. In my groggy state I heard her rambling on in a nearly crying state of shock and panic about the New York World Trade Center and crashing planes and the Pentagon, but it seemed like a foggy recollection of a b-rated, sci-fi film. I thought that it was touching that she was worried, yet unjustified. But when Ryan asked me why my mom had called and I started repeating some of the things that she had told me, "top of north World Trade Center tower collapsed" "another plane flew into the second World Trade Center tower" "Pentagon attacked" "no US outbound flights allowed in the skies for the first time in history" ... I saw the look on his face, and its severity and devastation finally hit me.
We hurried, dazed, to turn on the television and see for ourselves what was happening. Ryan said, "Brad used to work there," and I said, "Brad lived there, and so do so many others." We clutched our cups of coffee with our eyes glued to the confusing images on the screen and our mouths agape. We could only see one tower, due to the smoke, but soon realized that the tower we couldn't see had actually collapsed. I will never forget the repeated image of a large commercial plane flying directly into the side of tower two, the very tower where I once stood and gazed at the spectacular, sprawling New York skyline. Shortly thereafter, the live coverage showed the second tower collapsing. I had taken a bite of my bagel, but had to choke it down because I suddenly felt nauseous. Paralyzed, I witnessed hundreds, if not thousands, of people dying. In addition to the people on the plane and in the building that must have died, people were jumping from the top of the building, trying to escape. Incomprehensible.
My mother called again, and I immediately bumbled my words, trying to tell her that I was sorry - in the groggy state in which she had originally told me about the situation, I did not understand its magnitude. She went on to tell me not to worry about Robin, that she was OK. In my state of shock, I had forgotten that my little sister Robin was in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Another hijacked plane had crashed in her vicinity, and Robin and her co-workers were evacuated from their building, the largest tower between New York and Chicago (and therefore a building suspected to be in danger).
My co-workers were evacuated from their building, a block from the Chicago Board of Trade - obviously a potential threat to the safety of our friends in Chicago. My thoughts also immediately turned to my friends working in the Hancock building in Chicago - Helen, Mike, Barb, Gayle and everyone else at Near North. Ryan reached Brad via AIM. He was stunned. Fumin also sent us an instant message. At 11:39pm on a Tuesday night in Singapore, he witnessed these terrible events from the other side of the world.
All day I have just stared at the reports on TV. From time to time, I am overcome with grief and just cry over the horror of it all. There is a feeling that it's not over and a terror of what could happen next. If the Pentagon and the World Trade Towers were vulnerable, what isn't? Much of downtown Seattle is shutdown - the Space Needle, the Pacific Science Center, the airport (obviously - like every other airport across the country), the largest skyscrapers and all of the government agencies. Ferries are not taking any cars. Navy war vessels are now parked in our harbors. Amtrack trains and Greyhound busses are halted. The sound of sirens hasn't stopped all day. I think I'll hear those warning cries in my sleep. Another World Trade building in downtown New York has just collapsed, due to the other nearby collapses/explosions, and World Trade Building No. 6 is expected to fall shortly. Wall Street is shut down until Thursday - extreme measures that have never been taken before. Our borders to both Mexico and Canada are under heavy surveillance.
I fear to stop watching. I fear to continue watching. I don't know what I will wake up to tomorrow. The sound of an aircraft flying low right now made me hold my breath. The land of the free feels trapped, and everyone waits.
Collection
Citation
“story4790.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 13, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/5353.