I was outside doing yard work with no TV or radio on. My dad was supposed to be coming over to help me, and he was two or three hours later than I had expected. I was a little irritated because some of the tree-trimming really needed two people. However, I wasn't too concerned because my dad was walking the mile or so from his house and he liked to stop and chat with people along the way.
When he finally showed up he said, "Terrorists have attacked New York City and the World Trade Center towers are gone." I thought he must have gotten it wrong. How could the towers be gone? I remember going to the top of one tower--don't know which one--in the mid 70's. It must have been shortly after they were built. It was nighttime and I was more impressed with the view than with the towers themselves.
I have a number of friends in NYC, many of them from a photographers' forum. I spent the rest of the day watching TV and staying connected to that forum, waiting for news about my friends. We heard from one guy fairly quickly. His brother was a fireman on one of the "first response" teams. He was one of the 343 firefighters who died that day. Two other friends were out of contact until the next day. They were both nurses and had been kept at the hospital beyond their regular shifts to help with the expected flood of victims. Sadly, none of those victims ever made it to the hospital.
I was able to go to NYC at the end of October, 2001, to spend time with those friends. Very bittersweet as we learned of more and more relatives and friends-of-friends who had not survived the attacks.
When he finally showed up he said, "Terrorists have attacked New York City and the World Trade Center towers are gone." I thought he must have gotten it wrong. How could the towers be gone? I remember going to the top of one tower--don't know which one--in the mid 70's. It must have been shortly after they were built. It was nighttime and I was more impressed with the view than with the towers themselves.
I have a number of friends in NYC, many of them from a photographers' forum. I spent the rest of the day watching TV and staying connected to that forum, waiting for news about my friends. We heard from one guy fairly quickly. His brother was a fireman on one of the "first response" teams. He was one of the 343 firefighters who died that day. Two other friends were out of contact until the next day. They were both nurses and had been kept at the hospital beyond their regular shifts to help with the expected flood of victims. Sadly, none of those victims ever made it to the hospital.
I was able to go to NYC at the end of October, 2001, to spend time with those friends. Very bittersweet as we learned of more and more relatives and friends-of-friends who had not survived the attacks.