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september 11, 2001
Posted by: Quita from Yonkers, New York Thursday February 07, 2002 @ 08:31 PST
well my started as usual get read for work/school, drop off my 7yr old at school & then head off to work. when i was on the cross county parkway i noticed how beautiful the sky looked, it was such a pretty blue & the temperture was great so i was driving with my windows down. i reached the hutchinson river parkway (north) and as usual bumper to bumper traffic. i was listen to radio when it suddenly went off, i switched to another station but i didn't like the song so i turned to 1010 wins to listent to the traffic report. they were in the middle of the weather/traffic report when they interrupted & stated that they had a caller who was claiming to have seen a plane flying low hit one of the towers. she was calling from the roof of her building & she said she can see right into the tower, she said there was fire bellowing out of the building & more people were coming up to their rooftops to see. i couldn't believe what i was hearing, how can this accident had happened? more callers were being interviewed on the air and as i finally reached my job's parking lot the second plane had hit instantly i knew this was no accident. i rushed in straight to the cafeteria, asking whoever i walked by if they knew what was going on. when i got to the cafeteria, i couldn't believe what i was seeing (it's still unbelieveable, i still can't help but cry) the tv in the cafeteria is locked on cnn headline news, they were doing such a crappy job covering the story at that time. i'm sure they were trying to get the story straight but we were so anxious to find out what's happening, should we all go home to our families, is it safe? we finally got the tv changed to a local station news 4 ny and i just couldn't beleive what i was seeing, more people arrived at the cafeteria, some of the girls started to cry others rushed to the phone to find out if their loved ones were ok. what's weird is that many people that had loved ones there in some way shape or form got to work late that day. i decided to head down back to my desk & call my husband. he works nights so i was sure he had no clue what was going on & in case school closed early (which it did) it was best if here were up & ready to be able to head out immediately. i told him to turn the tv on he asked why i told him just turn it on , he asked what channel i told him it didn't matter and it didn't, even vh1 was covering that horrible day. once he saw the towers he was like "what the hell happened?" i told him what i knew so far but asked him to call me back if anything new happened, if things were going to get worse, i was not going to stay at work. our reservation agent came down to tell us that one of the towers collapsed, i heard what she said but it did not register i just kept working trying not to freak out, i kept thinking could this be the end? few minutes later she came down to tell us the second tower collapsed their both gone! like before i heard what she said but it was just not registering. i tried several times to call my husband but all circuits were busy. calls started to come in cancelling reservations or meetings some calls came in looking for rooms because there were so many people now stranded in all of our ny airports. we were finally told to go home no one was being very productive that day, what do you expect? i figured traffic would be bad with everyone trying to get home asap so i took the back roads & then onto the nys thruway (south). there's a certain spot on the nys thruway you can clearly see the empire state building, when i reached that spot i slowed down because i was completely shocked to see the thick black smoke blocking my view of the empire state building, that's when it hit me that's when i brokedown. just the thought of the hundreds of people who lost their lives that morning, it's just...heartbreaking! how many children that evening came home to find out mommy or daddy are not coming home! it is so hard for me to understand how a human being can be so cold & heartless, how can someone want to conflict pain & fear into innocent people. january 5, 2002 my daughter & i finally were able to go down to the platform at ground zero. let me tell you something, the pictures you see, the video footage you see are nothing compared to what you actually see when you're there in person! i can't explain, every photo that i've seen & the photos that i took do not capture the damage. most of it was cleaned up but it's still horriyfing and hard to believe. my daughter is seven, we went up to the observatory when she was two. the last time i was near the towers was a little over a year when i had jury duty down there by pearl street, i still remember looking up at the towers & thinking how pretty they looked. during our breaks i would look out from the floor to ceiling windows in the courthouse & look out & see the towers and the beautiful sky & down below i can see residents from china town doing there morning excercise. i'm sleeping better now, that night & many other nights after i could not sleep, when i would hear the jet fighters fly by i would walk up immedialtey & wait till it would go away. each time i hear a plane flying by i have to look for it to see how far up in the air it is. if it's low, i get nervous, i can't help it. i have two little girls i have to protect. now a beautiful blue sky, upsets my stomach. i hate what had happened i know that sounds stupid but i just don't know how to say it i hate to see people in pain, i hate to think of the many babies born born after 9/11 who will never meet there daddy, i hate to think of the many fiancees who will never get to walk down the aisle with their true love. i hope that if anyone who lost someone reads this please know that i prayed for you that day & prayed for you everyday after. well i guess i'll end it here sorry for taking so long but you know what, i feel a tiny bit better. well take care everyone, god bless! quita - yonkers, new york 2/7/02