9/11 Stories
Shelley
i want to first say that i am deeply sorry for all of those who did not make it out and those that were hurt badly. and to thank all those that helped and are still helping down at the wtc. naming it ground zero makes it more creepy.
i live maybe a bit less than a mile to the wtc. i was up early that day on the computer then i went out and back to my computer. i was feeling tired and decided i’d take a nap. right before i laid down i heard a huge what appeared to me as thunder. i looked out my window and said to myself it doesn’t look like rain. (i live in an apt in the back of my building so i couldn’t hear any screams coming from the front) so i thought that an approaching storm was coming. the first crash was very loud. the 2nd one was 1/2 as loud. then i went to sleep not thinking much about what i had heard.
i was in the wtc the night before, which gives me the creeps. at first i heard that my neighborhood was to be evacuated, but then it didn’t. i live on the lower east side south of houston street.
the scene on the streets in my neighborhood or the east village was surreal. people were walking around w/blank looks sad looks on their faces.
the traffic was blocked off so one could just walk on the streets.
the police were asking me for id to enter my neighborhood. since i have my mail sent to a post office 3 blocks away but in a different zip code, that was (the po box no) was on my license. so it was hard to get back home. i finally convinced the police that thats where i get my mail and i live down here past the barracades, and need to feed my cats. guess i got a cat lover cop and was let back in. from then on i carried junk mail that gets sent to my mailbox in my apt building.
the smell in the air was horrible. even 2 wks later i finally decided to go down to the wtc to see, and i just cried, thanked the fireman, cops, etc for their help. i used to travel by path into the world trade center for 10 years, and worked very very close to the wtc.
i’m glad that many people here got together, there was a beautiful vigil at union square, and candles lit all over the city in small clusters. what hurt so much was seeing all the flyers of the missing.
i saw a sign to help with animal rescue but when i walked down to west and houston streets they said that the animals had been moved to different shelters.
i can hear jets overhead, sirens, i’m scared. i want peace. everyday i pray for everyone involved.
shelley
nyc, ny