I remember…
…thinking that it was a beautiful morning as I traveled into Midtown Manhattan that morning for work, that the sky was blue and the sun was shining
I remember…
… arriving at work early that morning. Shortly after I arrived, a co-worker had received a phone call and became quite animated on the phone. After hanging up the phone she announcing to us that she was just talking to her husband who worked across the river in NJ, and he advised her that a plane had just crashed into the World Trade Center (WTC).
I remember…
… immediately switching on the TV tuner on my pc to tune into the news. At the time, everybody thought it was just an accident.
I remember…
…calling my dad, who worked in Brooklyn, at 9:00. I told him that a plane had crashed into the WTC.
I remember…
… when I realized that this was no accident. As I continued to talk to my dad, I saw a second plane slam into the WTC. Shocked, I sadly realized that this was no accident. We were under attack.
I remember…
… calling my mother and my siblings to see if they were safe. Luckily they were.
I remember…
… thinking about my cousin who worked in the Duane Reade pharmacy located in the lower level of the WTC. He made it out safely and later told us that when the first plane hit, he was in the stock room. He heard a thud, but didn't think anything of it because working in the lower level, he would hear all kinds of noises coming from the path train station that was directly underneath them. He stated that when he finally came out of the stock room, the store was empty. There were no customers in the store, and he didn't see any of his co-workers. As he made his way to the front of the store, a police officer happened to be walking spotted him and shouted for him to get out of the building.
I remember…
… seeing the awful images of people leaping to their deaths to escape the flames.
I remember…
… seeing the towers collapse in just a few seconds.
I remember…
… thinking about the conference I was scheduled to attend at the Windows of the World Restaurant, which was located on the 101st floor the WTC, just a few days later on September 13th and realizing how lucky I was.
I remember…
… going down to ground zero the following week with a few co-workers to see the destruction with my own eyes. I remember that as soon as we exited the subway, we were hit with an awful stench. I remember my co-worker asking a police officer what the smell was and I remember his face as he just looked at her and didn't say a word. At that point we realized what it was. It was the smell of death.
I remember…
…being overcome by a feeling of sadness.
I remember.
September 11, 2001 is a day I will never forget.
Please take a few minutes out of your day to remember all the innocent people who died as a result of this horrific act of terrorism.