Addaboy: Wednesday, September 11, 2002

Wednesday, September 11, 2002

It's funny, I said to myself that I really wasn't going to relive that day and write about it. It was really all I could think about, so it all just came out. I guess it's better to get it out then dwell on it....

I remember how perfect the day was. The bright blue skies, the lack of any clouds, nice comfortable temperature...a perfect day. I remember commenting to my uncle how great it was out as the boat pulled into lower Manhattan. A beautiful way to start off a Tuesday morning work day. The time now was 8:40am.

I hurried down into the subway station in a frantic rush to get to work. The train was late and the station was packed with people. You could hear the grumblings of everyone on how the MTA/NYC sucks...myself included. Another day going to work late. Great! It was then that Flight 11 crashed into the north tower of the WTC. The time now was 8:46am.

The train finally came and I hopped on the 1 train uptown. We went to Rector St. and then to Cordlandt St. There the train sat in the station and we heard a huge bang and the train shook slightly. Cordlandt St. is the station that is below the former twin towers (it was crushed when the towers fell). We all just looked at each other in the car. "What was that?" one person said aloud. I think we assumed that we had been rear-ended and that was it. The conductor made this announcement, "There have been gunshots up above on the surface. This train will be expressing to 14th Street." Gunshots? "From a bazooka maybe," one person said. None of us would even fathom what was really happening just above us. Flight 175 crashed into the south tower at that moment. The time now was 9:03am.

I got to 42nd Street and got off of the train to head to work. I worked right across from Bryant Park and you have an amazing view of the Empire State Building. I do remember looking up and seeing how beautiful it looked. Everyone on the street just went about their business. Midtown was business as usual.

I got to work and could see people huddled in the lobby watching the TV. Then I found out. OMG, that couldn't have happened here! Not in the U.S. Not in NYC! Good God! I had three relatives and a few friends that worked in the towers. I wondered how they were?

At 10:10am, Flight 93 crashed somewhere just outside of Pittsburgh. My father was on a business trip at the time in a small suburb right outside Pittsburgh. I wondered if he was near the site. If he was OK? He was.

I eventually met up with my mother and sister here in midtown. We decided to just try and get home. We walked from 50th St. all the way to South Ferry to catch a boat. F-16's crossed the sky as we headed down Broadway. As you got closer and closer, the air became darker and thicker. We had walked in the direction that the wind was taking smoke across the city. I even took off an undershirt and wrapped it around my face. Around the seaport, you could see military men with weapons, helicopters, etc. all lined up along the East River. We made our way onto a ferry and stood on the back of the boat.

Everyone stood there in silence as we pulled away from Manhattan. Our city was wounded. People were gone. Life would never be the same.

Luckily, all of my family members had made it out or were evacuated. Unfortunately, 2,801 other people weren't so lucky. I did know some of them...16 of them to be exact. Those hero's didn't have a chance. Three friends lost brothers. I lost four kids that I graduated from high school with. My high school prom king had died. One guy who I knew since kindergarten, and had only joined the FDNY six weeks before, was gone. My best friend is part of the FDNY, and we had gone out drinking a few weeks before with some friends of his from work. Four out of the five guys that was with us were gone. A close friend of the family lost her FDNY husband. They had just bought a house and had three kids...the oldest is five years old. One woman I knew had gotten a call from her newlywed husband, "Honey, I love you. I'm not going to get out. There's fire all around us. We're going to jump. I'll always love you. Goodbye." Unthinkable!

It's been a year since those events and I like to think that we're back, but we're not. There's still a lot of hurt in this town and will be for some time to come...but we're getting there. Flags lined my street at home. Not one house was without a flag. It brought a smile to my face. Rest in peace to all those souls...you're all of our guardian angels now.

I heart New York.