story9344.xml

story9344.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2003-06-11

I have read so many accounts of what people were doing on September 11, 2001. Although I was no where near, nor have I ever been to New York, this event is one that will forever leave its footprints in my mind. I was born and raised in California and I have always wanted to visit NY but at the same time I was also ignorant about NY as well. I honestly thought the WTC was just one building, I didn't know about the Twin Towers. On 9/11/01 I woke up and as usual began to get ready for work, I turned on the TV to see a tall building with a gaping hole smoke pouring out. I then heard that a plane had hit the tower. I went and told my boyfriend who was in the shower that the WTC had been hit by a plane and it looked like a movie. There used to be a business building off of the 405 that had a large banner covering its side to be made to look like something had gone through it, it was controversial because it caused a slow down in traffic so it was removed. This is what the WTC reminded me of. I continued to get in the shower and my boyfriend then told me that another plane had gone into the other tower, he saw it live. In the time it took me to get ready, one tower collapsed, by the time I left for work, the second tower had collapsed, I thought it was just a replay of the first collapse. I decided not to take my usual route to work because I didn't want to go through downtown L.A., I didn't know if we were the next target. As I drove to work, I constantly looked for anything suspicious, I heard about the missing planes, the hijacked planes and the plane crashing into the Pentagon. I just didn't know what to expect next. When I finally got to work everyone was talking and watching TV. I worked for a large entertainment corporation so the studio was on alert for any potential attacks and all tall high risk buildings were being evacuated. I called my mom at work in Downtown L.A. and she had been evacuated due to a bomb threat. My father is a police officer so I was also worried about his safety. I called my friend from my old job, she and her husband are from NY and her mom lives in Brooklyn, I wanted to make sure her mom was ok. Interestingly, she knew nothing of what had happend and I had to explain everything to her. Luckily she did get in touch with her mom and she was fine. In time we had been told we could go home early, I didn't see the need so I stayed at work, I would rather have been anywhere but L.A. at the time. That night and for the next few nights, we watched constant TV coverage hoping for survivors but seeing none. Being so far removed, I don't know if I had really taken in the impact of this event. As time passes I constantly watch stories, read personal accounts and learn the history of this event and the impact it has made in the world as we know it. Titanic has always been one of my interests, reading, watching documentaries. I think its the humanity involved that always drew me to it. I feel the same about 9/11. To hear and read people's accounts of that day, it's a constant reminder that each person that lost their life was a human being who lived and loved. I think its very important to remember that. When you hear and read about people that woke up late that day, decided to get out as soon as the first plane hit because they were there in 93', that is all the humanity of this event. I think of the people, not only in the buildings, but the ones watching from afar, the ones whose city as they knew it was destroyed and how that would affect their lives from that day on, for the firefighters and police officers who courageously did their jobs not knowing the end was near. The human toll is great and I think in this way I preserve memory of this incident. I was not alive when JFK was assasinated, I was in elementary school when the Challenger exploded but I do remember where I was when the WTC was attacked. My heart and thoughts go out to all of the families affected by this tragedy, to all of the families of NYPD and NYFD. I have such admiration for the strength of New York residents and our nation during this whole experience. We aren't the greatest nation for nothing.