The day was normal. It was like any other. I was busy writing an insurance policy for a man who needed to come in early. I don’t remember what time it was when a colleague mentioned that a small plane hit the World Trade Center. We were a bit shocked so we ran down the hall to a break room where an old rabbit ear television stood. I fought with the antennas for about two minutes. The picture came into focus on ABC news. The second plane was already hitting the twin towers.
As I looked up with tears in my eyes I said to those who had gathered, “This was no accident!” We watched in horror as smoke plumed out of the buildings. Then when my wits returned to me I ran to the nearest phone and called my sister in law. I explained to her what had happened and I asked her where her husband was in New York City that day. She was confused although I had told her what transpired at World Trade. I then suggested she turn on her television. She responded with, “Oh My God” and hung up to try to reach him.
As a family, we were lucky. Although my other my brother in law was scheduled to be at World Trade for a class that day, he didn’t go. No one in my family was killed. However, two family members worked in New York and knew lots of people at Cantor Fitzgerald. That office had a great loss of life. After I left insurance and taught in Summit, New Jersey there were students who had lost family members. A teacher lost a brother in law who was a first responder.
It was terrible to live in East Rutherford, New Jersey when 9-11 took place. We were in a location that had the twin towers in the horizon on a clear day. We were very grateful that we were packing to move into our newly purchased home. Every day for a few weeks we had to watch the smoke and fires and then the dust emanate from the skyline. It was heart breaking.
I remember on 9-11 it taking me nearly two hours to go from Bloomfield, NJ to East Rutherford, NJ. The Lincoln Tunnel had been closed and all of the traffic spilled into the towns close to the tunnel. People literally parked in East Rutherford one block from my house and watched the horizon in disbelief. No one knew what to do, where to go, how to help. We were numb.
Many of the schools dismissed the children and many companies closed. We sat glued to the horrific scenes of people jumping from the towers to escape burning to death. Every time we heard a thump we cringed. We started to wonder how many of those thumps people we might know from town, college, work… We cried for those who were unable to get out and got angry that someone would attack the innocent.
Ten years have passed. At least in New Jersey’s neck of the woods we are still shaken. We still jump like cats in a room full of rocking chairs whenever something “happens” in New York. This week’s earthquake had us twitching with concern until we found out what rocked the land beneath us. There is that small part of us that wonders if it is another attack. We still mourn those who lost loved ones and we feel sorrow for the first responders that are so sick now from the clean-up at Ground Zero.
It is amazing that ten years later it still feels so fresh, so recent and not faded. The Twin Towers have not been replaced. They are still finding remains of people from time to time on adjacent buildings. It is ten years of remembering but not forgetting.