5 Years Later

Some of the events are still clear in my mind.

Others aren't fuzzy.

But I'll never forget where I was.

I remember around 8:45 that morning. I was in the conference room with my coworkers, just like we were every day. I went to my cubicle for a few minutes, and went back into the conference room.

“A plane just flew into the World Trade Center”, someone told me. “My sister just called and said a plane flew into the World Trade Center.”

I think I said something like “What kind of plane? A Cessna? How can you not see the World Trade Center?”

Someone else said something to the effect of “It must have been. A passenger plane wouldn’t fly that low unless there was a problem.”

Though we in a room with TV access, our first response was to go to the internet. We went to Yahoo news and sure enough we saw the picture of the tower. There was a hole in the side and smoke was billowing out of it.

“Yup. Something hit it alright.”

“But that’s a lot of smoke for a little plane.”

“I know, but….”

We just kept thinking it was a little plane with someone that got lost, fell asleep or something.

“Ed, you want to go down and get something to eat?” I asked.

“Sure. Let’s go.” he said.

We left to go down to level 2 of the RenCen. We usually go down and grab a protein bar or bagel at about that time. Plus we thought we might see a TV down there.

Sure enough. We got downstairs, and could see the live footage of the smoke coming from the building.

“Wow. That’s a lot of smoke.” one of us said.

“It couldn’t really be a bigger plane could it?”

“Maybe…..”

Meanwhile, back in the conference room, they finally turned the TV on.

Ed and I were walking back to the elevators. Still couldn’t believe or make sense of what was going on.

We got back to the room and someone said another plane just hit the towers.

“What?” we both said. “You’re kidding.”

One of the other guys in the room said he was wondering out loud as it happened. Apparently he said “I wonder if it’s terrorists?”

Seconds later, the second plane hit the tower.

“Yep. I’m gonna guess it is.”

We all sat there stunned. By then, our room had become one of the most popular rooms on the 26th floor. Others came in the room to see what was on TV.

Women were crying. It was quiet. We were all shocked.

One of the secretaries came in and said people were free to leave if they wanted to. Management said if anyone was uncomfortable, they were free to leave.

Nobody moved. We were glued to the TV.

Sometime after the first tower fell before they sent us home, but I remember the secretary sticking her head in the room and saying, “We’ve been instructed to leave. Take your time. Go be with your families.”

I just remember getting in the car and hearing the reporter talking about a tower collapsing. I couldn’t believe it. Then when I heard it was the second, I really couldn’t believe it.

My buddy called his wife, a school teacher, and they were letting the kids out of school early. It was strange going to the school. I had just seen the most horrific and unbelievable thing in my life, and yet most people still didn’t know what was going on.

I remember driving down the road and seeing a military plane in the distance. I remember thinking, “Is that plane okay? Is it going to crash?”

Our lives haven’t been the same since. Ten months before 9/11 I was in the lobby and subway station of the World Trade Center. I remember how big inside they were. I remember getting outside the towers and looking up. We couldn’t see the top, it was night time, but still. The building seemed to go forever.

I’ll remember my first trip to NYC. I was in Philadelphia on business, and a couple of us decided to stick around another day and take the train into NY. I remember seeing the silhouette of the towers in the distance as we were going through New Jersey. I remember thinking “Wow I’m close. I’ll finally make to New York.” We had another half hour. Those things were so tall, you could see them for miles.

I remember going to the top of the Empire State building and standing for a picture with the World Trade Center in the background.

I made a few other trips to NYC. Two trips with the World Trade Center still there, and one almost 10 months after 9/11. The ruins were still smoldering 10 months later. I couldn’t believe what was still left. We saw the memorials, the prayers, and the pictures. It was very moving.

At the time, I thought this would be a rallying point for the rebirth or revival of America. It really was for a short time.

But where are we now? The stock market is doing pretty good again. Republican and Democrats can’t get along again. All they do is pass blame on the other party, just like the old days.

People talk about how good it is elsewhere, but won’t go there to live. People are still trying to get into the US, which should tell you something.

I’m not happy about a lot of the things going on in this country anymore. It’s like God doesn’t matter in most people lives now. That’s how things were before 9/11. Like I said earlier, you would think that would change people.