I honestly can't believe it has been 10 years since the terrorist attacks on our country. I have been watching some of the programs on t.v. about 9/11 in the last few days, and felt like I wanted to write about my own experience on that day, 10 years ago.
It was Monday, September 10th of 2001, and I had flown out to New York for work...I was a merchandiser and sales person for a clothing line. I had plans to be out there for a few days for some appointments with buyers from Nordstrom. I was also planning to meet up with a friend for dinner who lived in the city. It was truly beautiful there at that time, the sun was out, the skies were blue, and the atmosphere just felt good. I got up early Tuesday morning and got into my office in midtown about 8am for an early morning appointment.
If I remember correctly, I was just finishing up with my meeting when I heard one of my colleagues, Merle, shouting about the World Trade Center being hit by a plane. I was thinking, "what is the World Trade Center? (although I had just visited there the previous June)" This was just 10 years ago, but there was no streaming video and advanced internet information, in fact, I believe we had some version of a "dial up" connection. Today, we would all be able to get online and get every piece of information that we needed. There was a tiny television in our office with very bad reception, which we watched. I honestly didn't grasp the enormity of the situation as I was there in my office, just 3 1/2 miles away from the World Trade Center site. Our manager felt the best and safest place for all of us to be was right there in our office, together. So, we spent the day watching bits and pieces of what was happening on the tiny t.v. screen in disbelief.
I remember getting a phone call from my sister, Abigail, on my cell phone (which had intermittent reception) in a panic about my safety. I said, "of course I am ok". It never crossed my mind that my family would be worried about me.
Later that afternoon, we were all ready to leave the office, and get back to our hotels. I walked back to my hotel and just then started to feel a part of what had transpired that day. It was starting to sink in about what had happened. You could see it on people's faces, and hear the fear in their voices. After arriving in my hotel room, I turned on the t.v., and couldn't believe what I was seeing. How awful and sad the events that happened to this city...to Washington, and to those heroic people on the plane that went down in PA.
It took a couple of extra days to get a plane back home...I was there 6 days until flights were available back to Los Angeles. I was anxious to get back to my home, my man and my little city by the beach. I was really fortunate that nothing happened to me directly, and my experience that day is nothing compared to what the people in or near the towers experienced. It did, however, make me appreciate life, my family, and how precious and delicate it can be.
I've been to New York quite a bit. I worked in the apparel industry for 14 years that took me to the big apple about once every 6 weeks. Now, I just love visiting there... the delicious food, the restaurants, the museums, etc... This post today is just my little dedication to New York... a few photos from trips that I have taken there with my husband and girls.
