September 11, 2003
Two years ago today, at this very moment, I was standing outside my apartment on Long Island in New York and seeing the billowing ball of white smoke that was feverishly taking over the crystal blue skyline of Manhattan.
I'd been awoken that morning by a phone call from my mother. From her kitchen in Wisconsin, she was actually the first to alert me of the drama that was playing out a mere 20 miles from my apartment. After speaking with her and realizing the enormity of what I was experiencing, hundreds of things were absorbed into my brain in a split second.
Was I going to be okay? Were my friends and family around the country going to be okay? What was REALLY happening? On and on and on and on.....I remember calling friends and family in an effort to do a check-list of all the folks I knew who could potentially be affected by the Attacks.
I remember speaking with my friend Sonya who was working for American Express. Their headquarters were at Ground Zero; however she was working from home that day. I remember speaking with her husband Chun, who worked on the trading floor. He described the dreadful scene of how he witnessed bodies falling from the sky.
I remember holding the hand of my friend Katie who had been trapped on the 23rd floor of the Chase Manhattan building. She told me about how she'd been paralyzed with fear, during the evacuation, at the thought of never seeing her two children again.
I remember being with Holly, in the kitchen of her Long Island home, as her rookie-cop husband returned from having spent nearly 72 hours straight in the recovery effort. He was physically and mentally worn out as he spoke of the smells, the sights and the sounds.......
I remember going into Manhattan exactly one week after the attacks and seeing first-hand the devastation and the horror that was still so fresh. I personally saw young and exhausted fire fighters and police personnel who were sleeping in cars, trying to get some more energy to continue the search.
On that one-week anniversary, I remember walking down the street of lower Manhattan and being able to clearly hear the conversation of the couple walking on the other side of the street, because it was still so deathly quiet.
I remember hearing the travel stories from my friend Pete who had been in Europe on business and whose plane had been diverted to Nova Scotia where he spent four days in a gymnasium until they were given clearance to return to New York.
I remember speaking to Cathy who was trapped in an airport in California, not knowing if that city would also be a target.
I remember September 11th, 2001 like it was yesterday.
However, since the attacks; Chun and Sonya have given birth to their first child. Katie purchased a new home for her and the children. Andrew, the rookie cop, is now a seasoned veteran and Pete has a new job in Boston. Cathy has done several Ironman races and nearly all my friends in Charlotte have had babies!
And me?
I've moved back to Wisconsin, bought a home, changed careers, done a 1/2 Ironman and been surrounded by the comforting love of my family.
Life does go on..............
However, I still remember.
Peace and Love to all!
