Will September 11 ever be the same as it was before 2001? No, it won't. It will be one of those dates that we will remember forever. You will remember where you were and what you did.
I remember being at the office, getting a call from my friend Howie in NJ to tell me that a plane hit one of the twin towers. I found our little black and white office tv with no antenna and turned it on. Through the haze on the tv, there were Katie Couric and Matt Lauer watching the second plane hit the other tower. I sat there with a few other coworkers watching stunned at the sights we were seeing.
My company provides environmental services. We were quickly called to NY, where we had offices in Brooklyn and NJ near by to assist with the clean up. Several days later, we had a command center set up in a trailer about 10 blocks from ground zero where we were working for a number of agencies and companies.
The first thing you'd notice is the signs posted everywhere -- not only near ground zero, but throughout Manhattan. Mostly 8 1/2 x 11 pieces of paper with names and pictures begging for news, plastered on every flat surface in Manhattan, from people looking for loved ones and friends. Most, desperately, went unclaimed.
One day in October, I took a ride on a golf cart with one of our supervisors into the "zone". I recall being on my cell phone with a co worker as we rounded the corner to the big hole. "Todd, I'll call you back." The memory of turning that corner seeing the dust still in the air, the huge hole in the ground, the huge piece of iron sticking out of the 40th floor of the nearby American Express building runs through my head like a movie that I've just watched. It was hard to believe that this was a man made ruin. Although there were a thousand or more people working with heavy machinery, there were few voices, just the clang of the yellow iron moving through the site. It was eerie.
From there, we went to one of the ferry's set up to feed the workers. Many firemen and policemen were there. Red Cross workers manning the stations. Still, eerily quiet for a place with a hundred or more people eating lunch.
The restaurants in the area opened their hearts to the workers. Just about every restaurant, whether white table cloth or carry out, fed the workers for free. What more could they do?
I spent about 45 days in NYC during the end of 2001. I fell in love with the city and it's people.
I will never forget. We will never forget.
May the heroes rest in peace.
L'Chaim!
4 comments:
Certainly a sobering day for everyone...
Thanks so much for stopping by and giving my site a read. Looking back I realized I never really posted much about my diet so I put that in today's post.
We woke up to the news in Arizona. My wife went to work and we got our kids off to school and I sat their most of the day stunned.
I pray that those close to what happened can come to some peace and I pray that those of us who were further away (physically and emotionally) won't forget.
Being in the travel industry that event had VERY far reaching effects. Not only had I visited the city in the past and fell in love with it but I am also a former employee of American Airlines and any time a plane goes down it effects me greatly. My life will never be the same because it changed the industry that I love.
I am still in some state of shock about the events that occurred so long ago and it seems like it just happened yesterday. I was impacted in such a small way compared to those who lost loved ones but it definitely effected the entire country and I hope it's something that we don't forget about. The heroes that made the sacrifices should never be forgotten.
God Bless!
You know, I have my doubts. I suppose my grandparents thought no one would ever forget Pearl Harbor, but it seems that we have.
I wish I could feel like we've accomplished more than raising the death toll over the past few years.
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