It was a beautiful morning and I had just arrived at work trying to figure out why the office was aflutter. I worked in a Communications dept. for an intl. bank where there were tvs in the conference room and everyone was scurrying about. I immediately walked in the conference room sat down to the tv turned towards it and I saw the people falling out of the window and then the plane came around.....
As the plane rounded the corner and went into the building, I turned to my senior manager whose eyes were wide as saucers with tears in them and a horrified look on his face. In the past this was man who was always the stern manager with a lot of gruff in him. The look on his face and tears in his eyes made me realize what I saw in actual time was real. I begin to cry with heaving sobs but I turned back to the tv with the sight of the people running away from the buildings, the brownish colored smoke, and firefighters along police running towards the buildings many who were already in tower one then all of sudden.... Mind you, the second building had not fallen yet but as we are watching all the mayhem, the other cameras begin to show the 1st tower coming down and with that I put my head on the desk and cried deeply.
By this time our office phones are ringing off the hook because we had an office in the towers and one of our colleagues had traveled there as well for meetings. We all handled the phones along with calling our own family members especially because we were three blocks east of the Sears Tower which was now being mentioned in the broadcasts. The senior managers stayed but the rest of the staff were allowed to go home. The train ride home was surreal because by now there were uniformed police throughout all the stations and the city went on immediate security lockdown both seen and unseen. Luckily, none of our New York colleagues were killed or injured but their memory of our colleague of his experience upon his return will forever be in my mind.
On September 11th every year there after I try not to be in the downtown area for my own personal reasons nor want to work on a floor past 15 while keeping gym shoes in my drawer...just in case of an immediate evacuation of the downtown buildings for whatever reason. Always had a career in the financial district and to know that just the mere mention of the Sears Tower now WillisTower coming down the devastation would have covered several blocks both North/South and East/West. I walk by faith not by sight knowing that nothing is ever promised or guaranteed. However, due to my experience on September 11th and other life experiences, my testimony of faithful obedience is to the core being of who I want to be and how I want to live my life. Prayers to all the families and friends who lost loved ones in the horrible event. We must all remember those that perished on what was otherwise a beautiful day with light fluffy cottonlike clouds and sunny skies. We will heal our nation's pain someday!!
