September 11th

Eleven years ago, on the morning of September 11th, I was headed to my job on Third Avenue in Midtown, Manhattan on the express bus from Queens. It must have been just a few minutes after the first plane hit One World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m. when emergency vehicles started speeding past us on the expressway, sirens blaring. I couldn't imagine where they were headed until I turned to my left and saw the upper part of the North Twin Tower (1WTC) on fire, several miles away.

The bus had to turn around when we reached the Midtown Tunnel. We were headed back home, not sure of what was happening. On the way back, we found out that a second plane hit Two World Trade Center, a building I once worked in. We were all in shock now, super aware that it was a terrorist attack. Back home, there was nothing to do but watch the nightmare continue to unfold on television, right before our eyes. As much as we wanted it to, it wouldn't stop. The stark horrors of it just kept multiplying until it made us sick to our stomachs.

Some men wanted to kill me that day. They missed me, but succceeded in killing many others and seriously affecting the many lives that were related to them. The responders who passed me on the expressway that morning may have not survived. I heard recently that members of the New York Fire Dept. advised another fire department handling a crisis situation to take care of their own first. They said that was the big lesson they learned on 9/11.

Neighbors huddled in circles outside on the streets that night, holding candles. The stars and stripes were prominently displayed everywhere in the days and weeks that followed. There were no commericals on television or sports events, plays, or concerts. Normal life stopped, and for a while, Americans were united as one in our shared grief. Beautiful, sunshiney September days - like the one we had here in New York today - have a way of bringing it all back. God, in His mercy, gave man the ability to remember, but also to forget.