I moved to Los Angeles over 20 years ago but I still consider myself a New Yorker. Growing up an hour outside of New York City I never gave much thought to the World Trade Center. I never remembered a time when those towers weren't part of the city skyline. On a clear day you could see them from our town beach. That was the place you took visitors to get an amazing view of Manhattan and beyond. I will always remember going to Window of the World for dinner to celebrate my sister's graduation from med school. It was the fanciest restaurant I had ever been to! It was on the top floor of one of the towers and I was in awe that they had someone handing you a towel to dry your hands in the ladies restroom!
I ended up working at 1 Chase Plaza in downtown Manhattan after graduating from college and I think I walked by or through the towers almost everyday to catch the subway, run an errand or pick up lunch.
Then 14 years ago, I carried my 1 year old downstairs and turned on the tv. They had just reported a plane had hit one of the buildings at the World Trade Center. I thought it must have been a small plane and than the second plane hit and images I will never forget began to be shown on the tv. I immediately called my dad to tell him to turn on the tv, yelled up to my husband and the impact of what was happening began to sink in. This was a place I knew, my family and friends lived all around there . . . how was this happening?
For the next 24 hours the tv remained on in our house, my husband glued to the news. I was unable to reach family or friends as the phone lines were jammed. And I remember taking the kids to the park that afternoon just to have some kind of normalcy. Living near the airport it was eerily quiet and that silence was a constant reminder of what had happened.
I can't believe that my youngest wasn't even born and my two older children will never remember a world pre 9/11. I unfortunately remember that day with such clarity. I believe that day touched everyone - you either knew people who lost their lives or you knew someone who knew someone who had lost someone. It seemed like no one was untouched!
So today I think the most important thing we can do today is to take pause and to share something about that day with our kids so they learn the enormity of that event and the impact it had on our country. Because 14 years ago today, our country was forever changed!
Last year I watched this short documentary narrated by Tom Hanks on the boat rescue during 9/11, take sometime to watch this today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18lsxFcDrjo
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