It's hard to believe it's been five years since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Where has the time gone? And why hasn't Osama bin Laden been captured, yet? How is that possible that he's eluded capture while living like an animal along the Pakistan/Afghanistan border? Makes no sense to me with all of our technology and resources. Why don't the troops encircle the region and move in like a net to trap him? I guess it's a lot easier said than done.
So where were you on 9/11? I was at home in NJ. Thankfully, I had that day off. Otherwise, I would have been on the subway underneath the World Trade Center when the first plane struck the north tower. I worked only blocks from the WTC and would have been trapped downtown like my co-workers were during that awful day. When the towers fell, they said the smoke rolled toward the windows and turned day to night. Our office reopened a week later and we had to wear masks over our mouths for at least a week because of the stench from the burning rubble.
I was half asleep when 1010 Wins on the radio said a small plane had struck the WTC. I immediately popped out of bed and ran into Raul's office and asked him if he heard what happened. He hadn't, so we turned on the TV and watched in horror as the second plane flew into the south tower. We couldn't believe our eyes, so we dashed outside as hundreds gathered on our street to peer at the New York skyline and the burning towers across the Hudson River.
When we heard American and United airplanes were involved, we worried about Raul's brother and his partner who are both flight attendants on American and United's west coast route. Thankfully, neither one were on those fateful flights.
Just when we thought it couldn't get any worse, the first tower collapsed. At least one tower was left standing, I thought. And then the inevitable happened -- the second tower fell. It was clear, we were living a real-live nightmare. Amazingly, building #7 and the former Banker’s Trust buildings were also destroyed, both buildings I used to work in.
What a day from hell. I cried for days after and fell into a two month long depression. And I didn’t even lose a loved one. I can’t imagine if I had. My heart and prayers go out to the families who lost loved ones on that horrible day.
