September 11 Digital Archive

story2681.xml

Title

story2681.xml

Source

born-digital

Media Type

story

Created by Author

yes

Described by Author

no

Date Entered

2002-09-11

911DA Story: Story

Prior to the first plan hitting the North Tower, I was on a call with London. My call was interrupted by family members alerting me that one of the towers was hit - My sister Angela worked in the South Tower on the 95th Floor. The agony begins...

The search for word, the second tower being hit. Angela is above the point where tower 2 was hit. I am sure she is dead. Frantic calls to every investment firm, broker, friend and colleague I knew to give me information. I feel my sister's fear and I refuse to leave NY despite our building impending evacuation.

The first tower comes down..then the second. The anguish, devastation, absolute denial, panic and anger is overwhelming. Everyone in my family is hysterical.

Then - Angela surfaces - hurt but alive - distraught but still lucid. "Take me to my son", "Take me to my son" is the strength that makes her take one step in front of the other. No buses, No trains, No tunnels...escape from NY begins

The boats provide freedom. We see familiar faces - relief but continued anguish for the faces we dont see. As we ride the boat toward New Jersey - we turn back and see the black towers of smoke where the two towers of prosperity once stood.

One year later, the hurt remains. Angela has just delivered a 6 pound 2 ounce baby girl named Emily Grace. We look at Emily and know the angels brought her to us out of a leak time just one year before. Our family has changed, so has our lives and so has New York.

We are on Orange alert, we have gas masks, bottles of water and a change of clothes. We say I love you more, we leave work earlier to get home to our family, we know fear - we know strength, we know God and we know evil.

Citation

“story2681.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 16, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/5837.