It has been nine years since he fall of the twin towers. This one single event has affected many people including myself. I find it disturbing that others have used the anniversary of this event to voice their own agenda. This day should be marked as a remembrance and not a day of protest. I used to live near ground zero....
I remember it was a beautiful September Tuesday morning. I remember seeing smoke coming out of the the south tower as we took my now 13 year old daughter to her first day of kindergarten. I remember arriving in her classroom and clearly seeing the burning north tower. The teachers brought the shades down so the kids don't see what is going on outside.
I remember seeing the south tower has also started burning as we head back home from my daughter's school. From this moment, we knew something extraordinary is happening (earlier the news has been reporting that a helicopter has crashed into the south tower). I remember being on the roof of my building seeing the twin towers burning and thinking of what the people in the building must be going through.
I remember driving to the Brooklyn Bridge to pick up my brother-in-law, covered with dust from the burning towers. I remember seeing the hundreds of people walking calmly off the bridge but anxiously wanting to get away from the mayhem.
I remember the anxiety and the surrealism that I felt at the moment I witnessed the south tower fall from the sky....hearing the news of a crashed airplane on the Pentagon....in Pennsylvania...the nation it seems is so vulnerable.
I remember thinking, we can't have a baby now...
I remember the next day was as surreal as the previous day...quiet and the rancid odor that we will continue to smell for months onward.
I remember driving to the entrance of the Manhattan bridge and telling the officer that my wife is about to have a baby and that we have to get to NYU hospital. I remember feeling relieved that he escorted us over the bridge. I remember the eerie feeling of driving through empty Manhattan streets in the middle of what should have been rush hour. We got to the hospital in no time.
I remember passing by photos of love ones posted on the outside walls of the hospital as we head in to have a baby. For some time that day, I forgot what was going on outside and was lost in my own drama of helping my new born son enter safely into this world.
Every year on September 11, whether alone or with my family, I visit the site known as Ground Zero. I reflect on what happened that day and my thoughts go out to the thousands of lives lost and take a moment to remember.
I remember it was a beautiful September Tuesday morning. I remember seeing smoke coming out of the the south tower as we took my now 13 year old daughter to her first day of kindergarten. I remember arriving in her classroom and clearly seeing the burning north tower. The teachers brought the shades down so the kids don't see what is going on outside.
I remember seeing the south tower has also started burning as we head back home from my daughter's school. From this moment, we knew something extraordinary is happening (earlier the news has been reporting that a helicopter has crashed into the south tower). I remember being on the roof of my building seeing the twin towers burning and thinking of what the people in the building must be going through.
I remember driving to the Brooklyn Bridge to pick up my brother-in-law, covered with dust from the burning towers. I remember seeing the hundreds of people walking calmly off the bridge but anxiously wanting to get away from the mayhem.
I remember the anxiety and the surrealism that I felt at the moment I witnessed the south tower fall from the sky....hearing the news of a crashed airplane on the Pentagon....in Pennsylvania...the nation it seems is so vulnerable.
I remember thinking, we can't have a baby now...
I remember the next day was as surreal as the previous day...quiet and the rancid odor that we will continue to smell for months onward.
I remember driving to the entrance of the Manhattan bridge and telling the officer that my wife is about to have a baby and that we have to get to NYU hospital. I remember feeling relieved that he escorted us over the bridge. I remember the eerie feeling of driving through empty Manhattan streets in the middle of what should have been rush hour. We got to the hospital in no time.
I remember passing by photos of love ones posted on the outside walls of the hospital as we head in to have a baby. For some time that day, I forgot what was going on outside and was lost in my own drama of helping my new born son enter safely into this world.
Every year on September 11, whether alone or with my family, I visit the site known as Ground Zero. I reflect on what happened that day and my thoughts go out to the thousands of lives lost and take a moment to remember.
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| Tower of Light Memorial as seen from Ground Zero 9-11-2010 |
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| Flag of Heroes in Battery Park 09-11-2010 |
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