On September 4, 2001, my daughters and I flew over lower Manhattan returning home to LaGuardia Airport from Atlanta. It was mid-afternoon on a beautiful clear day and I remember saying to my girls something like, "Hey, look at the Twin Towers. What a beautiful view of them." The city looked great and the towers were impressive.
Less than seven days later, the towers were rubble.
I'd gotten up late that day and was planning to get to work around 10... My girlfriend called and told me to turn on the TV. I was watching on TV as the first tower fell and I remember thinking it was only a matter of time until the second went down as well. I was on the way into work when the second tower went down (my kids were in school, so I wanted to be with my girlfriend, and she had gotten to work on time... I just pulled on some jeans and a t-shirt... didn't even bother to shower).
I work at Queens College and there is a nice view of the city skyline from many spots on campus. That view changed on Spetember 11, 2001, and not for the better. The smoke clouded the horizon for weeks.
My girlfriend left for home around 12? or maybe it was 2? I really cannot remember. She lives in the Bronx (has to cross the Whitestone bridge (a suspension bridge over the East River, span maybe 1/2 mile or more?). She was about 30 feet from the point where they closed the bridge when they closed it. If she had left 15 seconds earlier, she wouldn't have had to wait in her van at the foot of the bridge for four or six or whatever it was hours. I was on the phone with her for much of the time while she was trapped there.
All in all, a damned horrible feeling (doesn't describe it adequately, but I really don't want to dig up the feelings too much... besides, this a family oriented place). I was fortunate (or maybe not)... somehow, even though I grew up in NYC (I'm 41 now), I didn't lose any family, friends or even aquaintences.
But my ex-father-in-law, a retired chef, knew much of the staff at Windows on the World (the restaurant that had been at the top of the towers).
A coworker's neighbor's son happened to be on his cell phone with his mom when the first plane plane struck maybe 100 feet below his office.
The same coworker was scheduled to start teaching a class on September 11... his class roster had three women named Maria. On 9/12, he was calling the students to say that the next class wouldn't be until 9/18... when he called and asked for the second Maria, the woman who answered (Maria's mother) started crying uncontrollably and speaking in Spanish.... His class started the next week, but with only two Marias.
I grew up under the LaGuardia flight path, with planes on approach at about 1500' (in fact, I used to launch rockets in the flight path as a 12 year old). Unless the air is very wet (rain) or a plane is especially low or loud, I can ignore them completely. I don't even notice most of them. I remember the quiet. I got used to it real quick (liked it actually). But I remember noticing the first plane afterwards (not counting the fighters... I mean 737's and the like). And the sound was somehow comforting... saying that things would get better again, even though they still sucked.
I haven't been below 1 Police Plaza (Chinatown) in the city since then and I have little desire to visit ground zero. Maybe one day, but not until I need to for something real.
I still feel a pang of grief when I see the towers the way they used to be... something from before September 11, 2001... an old NYC calendar, a movie, the Sopranos opening credits from the first season....
Hey, Chuck... thanks for starting this thread... at first, I wasn't going to post to it, but after reading it, I decided I felt like saying something as well. Now, rereading what I just wrote, I'm glad I took the time to write it. I cannot say I feel better right now, but everytime you cry a bit about something like this, it helps. I'll feel better after some sleep.
