story10323.xml
Title
story10323.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2004-01-13
911DA Story: Story
A Sunny September Morning
I lay here on my couch, trying to fall asleep the same way I do every night. Well not every night, just since July because the TV in my bedroom has been broken since then. Every night has been the same since then. I would fall asleep watching television, and Brian would wake me up before he went to work. I would go into my bedroom and fall back asleep, and later wake up for work. I don?t know why I didn?t get a new television, I have the money, I guess I am just a little too lazy sometimes. Every night it was the same routine. It kind of worked out well. I worked late-nights and Brian worked nine to five so we weren?t in each other?s way.
By the end of the summer I kind of thought that Brian was getting mad, or at least annoyed that he woke me up every morning. I actually liked it, because of our different hours we hardly saw each other. Brian was my big brother and by waking me up, I guess he felt like he was looking out for me. At times I think Brian was madder that I fell asleep with the TV on. Heaven forbid the electricity bill was more than last month.
One night about seven months ago, I fell asleep on the couch watching television. I remember this night so well, because it wasn?t unlike tonight at all. Brian woke me up before he went to work.
He shook me and said, ?Neal, how are you going to wake up for work.?
I said, ?Don?t worry I will go inside?.
I got up went inside and fell back to sleep. The next thing I remember is my cell phone ringing, I didn?t answer it, and I thought that if it were important they would call my house phone. Looking back I realized that this was totally against my normal routine. Normally when I got home from work at night I shut my ringer off because I would get calls from telemarketers all morning. Any one that needed me knew to call my cellular phone
A few minutes later my cell phone rang again; I still didn?t answer it. I was waiting for my house phone to ring before I thought anything of it. Sure enough my house phone rang next. It was my mother, and she was hysterical. She told me to turn on the news. When I put the news on, I saw that a plane had flown into the building that Brian worked in. Mom was telling me to call Brian and find out what was going on. Within the next few minutes, a plane had hit the other tower of the pair.
The next thought in my head was my brother Eric, he was supposed to be flying to Tampa that morning for business. I asked mom about Eric. She said that she couldn?t get in touch with him. Apparently the phone lines were all tied up because of what had happened. Mom couldn?t get a call through to Eric because he lives in New Jersey. When I finally I got Eric on the phone, he was just as bad as mom. His flight had been cancelled and he was home alone. Eric is the oldest of us, but he really doesn?t handle bad situations well.
I knew I had to get to Eric because he was alone. Mom was not alone, so she was ok. I was watching the news and when the first of the two towers collapsed, I ran out of the house. Traffic to New Jersey was horrible, I later found out that the Outerbridge Crossing was closed. Actually all of the bridges to Jersey were closed. While I was sitting in traffic, Eric called me. He told me that the tower had collapsed. Knowing that Tower Two collapsed and Brian was in Tower One I told him not to worry; Brian was in the other tower. Between his tears he was able to explain that now both towers had collapsed. In disbelief I told him not to worry everything would be ok. Sure enough Eric was right, both towers had fallen, but it had been almost two hours and I felt that Brian had enough time to get out.
At this point, I just didn?t want to be alone. Now my sister-in-law was home, so Eric wasn?t alone. I went to the only place I could get to, Mom?s house. When I got there, mom was alone and crying. All I could was hold her and try to comfort her. We were keeping hope alive, but part of us knew that there was no way Brian had escaped.
It had been about four hours now and still no word from Brian. Out of nowhere, my cell phone beeped with a voice message. I knew it was Brian, he was calling to tell us that he was ok. When I heard his voice I felt such a sigh of relief, but it came too soon.
This was the first call that my cell phone received that morning. In all of the confusion and with the phone lines being tied up, I had just got the message. It was Brain calling at 8:51 am. He called to tell us what had happened.
He said, ? A plane had hit the trade center and I am in it, everything is on fire. If I don?t make it out of here, tell everyone that I love them?, and then he said his last choked up goodbye.
After almost seven months, a memorial service, and a funeral, we still don?t want to admit that Brian is no longer with us. On that sunny September morning something stopped me from answering the phone. I don?t know what it was, but now the last words that Brian had for us will be with us forever.
Now even seven months later I still fall asleep on the couch with the television on, hoping that this was all a dream; waiting for Brian to shake my arm and tell me to go inside, because I don?t want to be late for work.
In loving Memory of
Brian Nunez
3/31/72-09/11/01
I lay here on my couch, trying to fall asleep the same way I do every night. Well not every night, just since July because the TV in my bedroom has been broken since then. Every night has been the same since then. I would fall asleep watching television, and Brian would wake me up before he went to work. I would go into my bedroom and fall back asleep, and later wake up for work. I don?t know why I didn?t get a new television, I have the money, I guess I am just a little too lazy sometimes. Every night it was the same routine. It kind of worked out well. I worked late-nights and Brian worked nine to five so we weren?t in each other?s way.
By the end of the summer I kind of thought that Brian was getting mad, or at least annoyed that he woke me up every morning. I actually liked it, because of our different hours we hardly saw each other. Brian was my big brother and by waking me up, I guess he felt like he was looking out for me. At times I think Brian was madder that I fell asleep with the TV on. Heaven forbid the electricity bill was more than last month.
One night about seven months ago, I fell asleep on the couch watching television. I remember this night so well, because it wasn?t unlike tonight at all. Brian woke me up before he went to work.
He shook me and said, ?Neal, how are you going to wake up for work.?
I said, ?Don?t worry I will go inside?.
I got up went inside and fell back to sleep. The next thing I remember is my cell phone ringing, I didn?t answer it, and I thought that if it were important they would call my house phone. Looking back I realized that this was totally against my normal routine. Normally when I got home from work at night I shut my ringer off because I would get calls from telemarketers all morning. Any one that needed me knew to call my cellular phone
A few minutes later my cell phone rang again; I still didn?t answer it. I was waiting for my house phone to ring before I thought anything of it. Sure enough my house phone rang next. It was my mother, and she was hysterical. She told me to turn on the news. When I put the news on, I saw that a plane had flown into the building that Brian worked in. Mom was telling me to call Brian and find out what was going on. Within the next few minutes, a plane had hit the other tower of the pair.
The next thought in my head was my brother Eric, he was supposed to be flying to Tampa that morning for business. I asked mom about Eric. She said that she couldn?t get in touch with him. Apparently the phone lines were all tied up because of what had happened. Mom couldn?t get a call through to Eric because he lives in New Jersey. When I finally I got Eric on the phone, he was just as bad as mom. His flight had been cancelled and he was home alone. Eric is the oldest of us, but he really doesn?t handle bad situations well.
I knew I had to get to Eric because he was alone. Mom was not alone, so she was ok. I was watching the news and when the first of the two towers collapsed, I ran out of the house. Traffic to New Jersey was horrible, I later found out that the Outerbridge Crossing was closed. Actually all of the bridges to Jersey were closed. While I was sitting in traffic, Eric called me. He told me that the tower had collapsed. Knowing that Tower Two collapsed and Brian was in Tower One I told him not to worry; Brian was in the other tower. Between his tears he was able to explain that now both towers had collapsed. In disbelief I told him not to worry everything would be ok. Sure enough Eric was right, both towers had fallen, but it had been almost two hours and I felt that Brian had enough time to get out.
At this point, I just didn?t want to be alone. Now my sister-in-law was home, so Eric wasn?t alone. I went to the only place I could get to, Mom?s house. When I got there, mom was alone and crying. All I could was hold her and try to comfort her. We were keeping hope alive, but part of us knew that there was no way Brian had escaped.
It had been about four hours now and still no word from Brian. Out of nowhere, my cell phone beeped with a voice message. I knew it was Brian, he was calling to tell us that he was ok. When I heard his voice I felt such a sigh of relief, but it came too soon.
This was the first call that my cell phone received that morning. In all of the confusion and with the phone lines being tied up, I had just got the message. It was Brain calling at 8:51 am. He called to tell us what had happened.
He said, ? A plane had hit the trade center and I am in it, everything is on fire. If I don?t make it out of here, tell everyone that I love them?, and then he said his last choked up goodbye.
After almost seven months, a memorial service, and a funeral, we still don?t want to admit that Brian is no longer with us. On that sunny September morning something stopped me from answering the phone. I don?t know what it was, but now the last words that Brian had for us will be with us forever.
Now even seven months later I still fall asleep on the couch with the television on, hoping that this was all a dream; waiting for Brian to shake my arm and tell me to go inside, because I don?t want to be late for work.
In loving Memory of
Brian Nunez
3/31/72-09/11/01
Collection
Citation
“story10323.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 8, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/8326.