Just a week prior, I came back from a nice vacation in Martha's Vineyard with my girlfriend at the time, Joyce. We got back Labor Day weekend on Sunday. On Labor Day I ran my annual Labor Day race here in Long Beach and it was business as usual. The schools reopened for the year and everyone was back to work. It was a normal first week of September, who knew that one week later all of our lives would change?
The night before the attacks I was volunteering for a young politician who was running for county executive. The primary election was to be held the next day, September 11th. I remember getting home, having my dinner and talking to Joyce before I went to sleep.
I woke up on September 11, 2001 like any normal morning. The thing I remember most about that morning was how beautiful the weather was. The sky was an unbelievable blue color, it was 80 degrees, and there was no humidity. I recall thinking to myself on my ride to work that is was just a breathtaking day without a cloud in the sky. Who knew that in a matter of an hour, life as we all knew it would change.
I was working for a computer firm at the time. A vast majority of our clients were the big investment firms down in NYC's financial district. We also had two investment firm clients in the World Trade Center. I got to work an hour early as I always did, at 8am. I logged onto my computer and turned on my radio like I normally did. I got into a conversation with one of my co-workers for a while and while I was talking to her I remember hearing talk on the radio about a hole in the World Trade Center. I did not pay attention because the station I had on always joked around about stupid stuff. I kept talking to my co-worker. By then it was about 8:50am.
Within 10 minutes most of the employees started arriving and talking about a plane that had hit the World Trade Center. I immediately turned on an all news radio station to follow the story. We all thought a small commuter plane went off course or a TV Traffic Copter hit it, so nobody was in panic mode. By then Joyce had made it to wok in NYC and was Instant Messaging me as we always did at work. She said there was something going on downtown and they were headed to the roof of their building to look. She worked for MTV in Times Square. I told her to be careful and I'd talk to her in a few minutes. Just a few minutes later the second plane hit the second tower and we all knew we were under attack. Everyone in the office was frantic. Many people had loved ones that worked in NYC and were scrambling to call them. My phone immediately rang and it was Joyce hysterical saying that she witnessed the second plane strike the second tower. I told her to get out of the city ASAP. Within minutes all air traffic was shut down, all NYC subways, trains, bridges and roads in and out of NYC were on lockdown.
The owner of our company called and said the was closing the company and wanted us all to go home and be with our families. This was about 9:45am. I lost contact with Joyce because all cell phones were logjammed and it was impossible to get through on a cell. I immediately started driving to Long Beach to be near the phone and to follow the developments of the story. About halfway home, the first tower collapsed, and I was completely in shock and stunned. As I got about 15 minutes away from Long Beach, on the Meadowbrook Parkway down by Jones Beach, there is a clearing across the bay where you can see the NYC skyline. I saw about 30 cars pulled over and standing on their cars to see what was happening. I had a convertible at the time, so I pulled over and stood up in the car....just a few seconds later we all witnessed the collapse of the second tower. Again, i was stunned and just wanted to go home. I got to Long beach and followed the story on the news networks.
Joyce finally got home about 5pm. She had a 7 hour exodus out of NYC. I remember feeling so helpless that I could not go pick her up or head towards NYC because the roads were shut down. I was just happy she was home safe. We took a walk down by the bay and saw this site at sunset:
The view from my neighborhood at sunset on 9-11-01
Ironically, this pier/view is right across the street from where I live now. It was an exhausting day and a mentally and emotionally draining day. I remember barely sleeping that night and when I did sleep, I would wake up wondering if it was all just a bad dream, if only it were that simple.
What do you most recall about that tragic day?
18 comments:
I remember I was home with foot surgery and it was my husband's day off,he was off on Tuesday's. I was already watching the news and they interrupted to show a plane had hit the first tower and I yelled for my husbanad and he came to see and the first thing he said was "Terrorists". Then the 2nd plane hit and I just remember being numb pretty much for the next couple of weeks. I couldn't take my eyes off the TV and I called as many people as I could for comfort. All my neighbors had candles either in theri windows or on their front steps.I think I will put some candles out front in memory of those that lost their lives on that life changing day.
I'll probably be in the city on Sunday. Not sure what I'll be doing. Last year on 9/11 I was on the beach in The Shore.
I was pulling into the garage at work and heard a DJ say something about a plane and a tower, I thought they were talking about the KC airport. I got into work, fired up the computer and there it was on the MSN Homepage. I brought the TV from the conference room to my office and was glued to the coverage for the rest of the day. My office has a glass wall facing the lobby and people would just stand there, watching the horror and motion if they could come in. When the first tower collapsed, there were probably 50 people crowded in my office. I cried the entire day.
What I remember most is how quiet it seemed as I drove home that day. I drive a convertible and the top was down, and usually you hear sounds of the city: police sirens, radios blaring, horns...but it was eerily quiet as I left downtown.
It was horrible enough to see it on TV, I can't imagine how it felt to be there in person.
Wow Charlie. I can't even imagine being there and feeling so helpless. I remember I had just walked into the office when it happened. I turned on the tv which is the first thing I always do and I sat there stunned. My boss showed up, we both started crying, and we spent the whole day sitting in front of the tv like zombies. It was awful.
I too remember the weather, for some reason, just how beautiful it was. And I remember looking out the window of my office across the river in NJ and watching smoke billowing out of the Towers. It was the most horrific day, being so close and seeing it all go down and knowing people downtown that day. Horrifying.
Through family and friends I know a lot of individuals who work for the city fire department and city police departments. When I saw the first tower fall, this extremely heavy feeling came over me. That's my most vivid memory of that day.
I still get very choked up every time I see film from that day. I was in Philly (well actually in Cherry Hill) and most of us just went home, we didn't know if anything would happen there, or what. I got back into Philly by train, and literally got the last train out of town to get to my parents house. I watched the coverage there for a couple hours, and they drove me home, and I think I was glued to the TV, in shock, horror and sadness, for the next 10 hours. I just feel sad for the families left behind, the firefighters and police who lost so many of their own. Hate is a very terrible thing.
I remember that day to a T, i can tel you what i was doing, every single minute. wow.
I was living near San Francisco at the time and remember being woken up at 6:30 a.m. Pacific time by my best friend calling me. She was on her way to work and called me on the cell phone telling me that we were under attack and to turn on the TV. I recall turning it on to MSNBC and watching footage of the two Towers with gaping holes and massive fire. I was sick, stunned and couldn't believe my eyes. I remember watching the footage live of the Towers collapsing and breaking into sobs knowing how many people were still trapped inside. I was in a daze for a a while and remember how everything in my local area was shut down. It was eerily quiet and somber. I recall the TransAmerica building in San Francisco was evacuated that day and how people started leaving the downtown area in case of an attack.
I was on Wall Street that day. I was on the FDR near the Brooklyn Bridge when the first one fell and the sky started to rain that gray ash. Sunday will be a very difficult day.
I was half-asleep on my sofa, fighting off a migraine. My little boy was playing on the floor near me, as was usual when I had a migraine. We had Nick Jr. on TV, so I had no idea what was going on. Near 9:30 am, I was starting to feel better and went up to my room to clean up and get dressed. When I flipped on the TV, it was still on CBS (from watching Letterman the night before) and Dan Rather was reporting and the picture was of a tower with smoke billowing out. I thought, "What the hell is this?" Of course, I stayed glued to the set after that. I let my kiddo just keep watching Nick, Jr. downstairs, but I could not pull myself from my room. I did call my husband, my folks, and my good friend who used to work in the WTC and still had friends working there. She was frantic. I don't remember when my headache subsided, but it did.
What a horrid, horrid day.
I had never been to NYC, then in July (2001) I had the opportunity to be a chaperone for a group of girl scouts from south mississippi. The city was AMAZING! 2 months later, I was back at school, starting my junior year of college. I was sleeping in before my 11:00 class, and I had the radio on. I woke up that morning hearing the AWFUL news. I'll never forget.
I was working at a newspaper in Minnesota...my first job out of school. The weather was beautiful there, as well. I remember someone coming upstairs to the newsroom, telling us to check the Associated Press newswire...that a plane had just struck the WTC in NYC. Of course we wanted to know what was going on. Then we turned on the tv. Stuck to it like glue all day. I grew up in MA, so I immediately called my mom, after learning the planes originated from Boston, to make sure all was well. The rest of the day was spent listening to the radio, watching tv and crying. Even seeing the images now, nearly 5 years later (can it really be?), it still brings tears to my eyes. A horrible, horrible day.
I was at the doctor's office getting an x-ray on my shoulder. It was taking forever for a technician to come in and see me and I was getting annoyed.
Finally, someone came in crying, telling me what had happened. So, all of us, patients and employees, were huddled in the waiting room watching the TV.
I finally made it back to work; we told everyone to go home for the day and account for everyone.
I'll never forget that day. Never.
Great post, thanks for sharing!
I was riding in the elevator up to my office (at the time) which was on the 10th (top) floor of an office building in Bloomington, MN when I overheard two people talking about it. When I got into my office I told some of my friends what I had heard and they didn't believe me so we turned on the radio. Which led us to turn on the TV in the conference room, and we all watched in horror as the second plane struck. It was so surreal, I couldn't even believe it.
I remember after I went to my office and watched as all the airplanes were redirected to land at the Minneapolis/St. Paul Int'l airport...it was strange.
I also immediately called my father-in-law who's a Captain for Northwest airlines. I remember the night before he had called and he was in Washington DC...he had flown by the pentigon an hour before it was hit. I'll never ever forget that day.
I posted my recollection today, Charlie. Thanks for sharing yours. That is an amazing photo.
Life will never be the same, that is for sure.
Scared. Oh so scared
Helpless, completely helpless. Scared, incredibly sad, prayerful, shocked, astonished, -- so many emotions.... and I still feel them 4 hears later, everytime I think about it....
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