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Linking up with
Andrea for "Where were you on 9/11?"
September 11, 2001
I was 25 years old living in Albany NY (about 2.5 hours from
New York City).
I was in the bathroom of our apartment getting ready for
work when the phone rang. It was my “late”
day, so I didn’t have to be in the office until 10:00am. My boyfriend (now husband) who was still half
asleep answered the phone. A few seconds
later he came into the bathroom with an alarmed look on his face and told me to
turn on the TV, something bad had happened.
I turned on the TV and saw one of Twin Towers burning.
Driving to work, I listened to the news coverage on one of the
local radio stations, which had stopped playing music and was focused solely on
what was happening in NYC. Once I got to
work, everyone who was not out on appointments was in the conference room
watching the TV. We all sat there in disbelief
watching what was unfolding.
I had a few work appointments I had to go out on. I was glued to the coverage in my car, crying,
and hoping no one I knew was hurt.
After my appointments were done, I had walked to Bruggers
Bagels to get some lunch. By this time
everyone knew it was a terrorist attack.
When I got to Bruggers, there was a sign on the door saying, “Closed for
the safety of our employees.” I remember
thinking to myself that it was highly unlikely a bagel shop in Troy, NY would
be a terror target. But I suppose we
were all just very frightened and didn’t know what to do.
After I got back to my office, my husband called and said he
was being deployed and needed to report to the Armory that evening (he was in
the National Guard at the time). My boss
let me leave so I could go home and spend a couple hours with him before he
left.
We sat on the couch watching TV and I cried and cried. Cried for the people on the planes, in the
towers, at the pentagon. Cried for the
fireman, policemen, and all the first responders. And I cried because I was
worried for my husband....we didn’t know how long he would be deployed for, or
where he would be deployed to, or what danger may lay ahead.
I think I watched more TV in the days that followed than I
have in all my years of TV watching combined.
It was addicting, and even though it was usually the same information
over and over again, you just couldn’t stop watching.
I am relieved to say that my husband was only deployed for a
few days to guard a nuclear power plant in Northern NY. And none of my friends in DC or NYC were hurt
(although there was a close call with the brother of a close friend...he made
it out about 5 minutes before the first tower collapsed).
Even now, I can't look at pictures from that day, or watch a TV program about 9/11 without tearing up and feeling a huge pit in my stomach. I think about Father Mychal Judge and all the other fireman who were there to try and save lives, and instead lost their own. I think about all the children who lost their parents, and all the parents who lost their adult children. There are images from that day that are seared forever in my mind...people running in fear covered in dust and blood, people jumping to their death, people screaming and crying in the streets, masses of people walking across the Brooklyn Bridge to get home or to safety.
September 11, 2001 will be ingrained in my memory forever. I can truly say it is the day I learned and
understood there is great evil in this world, but also great strength, kindness
and resilience.
