09/11/01 - I was there - Part I

I'm going to try to go back to a place where I usually avoid going back to... Since I started typing this and it became way too long, I'm going to do it in parts. I'm doing a 9/11 5k run on Saturday, and it's a thing that is very dear to me. Because when the World Trade Center collapsed, I was there. Not in the Towers, but close enough.

So this is my story from 9/11.

Part I:

I lived in Rutherford, NJ, but at that time I drove to Weehawken and caught the bus to NYC from there, as it was much faster. Weehawken is where the Lincoln Tunnel is located, so literally right across the Hudson River. A whopping 7 minute bus ride into NYC.

I remember hearing on the radio how it was going to be a gorgeous day, sunny, not one cloud in the sky. I had spent my weekend at the beach and was bright red and sunburned. It hurt carrying my backpack around, as the weight of it were right on my shoulders, the part that was mostly burned. I'm mentioning this because hours later I completely forgot about my sunburn, but I'm going off on a tangent here.

I worked at a small computer consulting company in downtown NYC, in Nassau St. My subway stop was off of Broadway, just a block from the World Trade Center. It had been a normal commute, nothing eventful. As I got off my stop, while climbing up the stairs there were tons of people gathered around looking up. I was running a few minutes late already "Fuck, I'm going to get to work even later. Stupid people. Probably a guy jumping off a building but everyone has to stop and see!"

I get to the stop of the stairs and turn around. One of the towers was covered in black smoke coming off of it. "It was a bomb!" "It was a plane!" "It was a missile!" everyone had witnessed something different. My boyfriend at the time, Paul, worked across the street at One Liberty Plaza (right next to Century 21, for those of you familiar with the store), across the street from the Towers. I try calling him, but get no cellphone service. My eyes are fixed at the building.

"OH MY GOD!" everyone yells out at once. A body is slowly falling from the towers. White man, dark blue suit, white shirt, red tie. Looks like a little toy, not moving, falling upside down, his arms and leg spread as if he had been doing jumping jacks. My heart beats faster, my eyes swell up with tears. Emotion overcomes me. I had never seen someone die in front of my eyes before, and being helpless knowing that one is definitely gone, was too much.

I turn around and start running towards my office, my back turned to the Towers. As I turn into Nassau St I hear an explosion, the ground shakes, the sound is louder than anything I ever heard. I'm crying at this point. I don't look back. I'm thinking the smoke I saw caused the explosion. Oh, my god, more people are dead.

I run into my building tell the doorman what I had seen, get the elevator and go up to our office in the 13th floor. When I get there, my office phone is ringing "The other building got hit! They're evacuating my building, I don't know what to do, I don't know where to go" Paul says. "Come to my office, come to my office!" I looked out the window. Despite being a relatively small building in downtown NYC (only 14 floors), I have a clear view of both towers. Both are covered with smoke.

Trisha, the accountant gets there a few minutes after I do.

(to be continued...)

By the way, this is the map of where I was.

The green square was the World Trade Center
The yellow square One Liberty Plaza, where Paul worked
The red square was the exit from my subway stop
The pink pin, where I was when the second building got hit
The green pin is where my office was located

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