…I came to work in the same building where I’m writing this blog today. My desk then was just a few feet from where it is now. I did, for the most part, the job I do today. I’m on the radio and I work with clients, making their radio commercials. My life hasn’t changed much, really.
Everything else has.
I walked around a corner and saw several co-workers standing around a tv, watching intently. I wandered over to see what might be the attraction. Probably a sports highlight or a Food Network host doing something interesting (seriously, that one happened a lot).
It wasn’t either of those.
I saw 2 buildings and a little smoke. The picture was so blurry but that didn’t register as anything unusual. We all started speculating. I assumed a drunk pilot had accidentally crashed a small private plane into one of the twin towers. We’d hear the usual news stories and move on.
Then a second plane approached and our perspective, our reality, our world changed.
Was it the next day or a few days later? President Bush was in New York and when asked by someone in the crowd if he could hear them he replied into a bullhorn “The whole world can hear you”. That was the first time I felt anything close to good since that morning around the tv. I’m as much at a loss of words to describe it today as I was then. I guess that’s why I play back this scene in my mind every September 11th. Below are some who found the words.
“On September 11, I always take the day off. I want to be in a peaceful quiet place praying. It is a day I both mourn and celebrate.” — Genelle Guzman-McMillan, 9/11 Survivor
“When Americans lend a hand to one another, nothing is impossible. We’re not about what happened on 9/11. We’re about what happened on 9/12.” — Jeff Parness
“Ten years have passed since a perfect blue sky morning turned into the blackest of nights. Since then we’ve lived in sunshine and in shadow, and although we can never unsee what happened here, we can also see that children who lost their parents have grown into young adults, grandchildren have been born and good works and public service have taken root to honor those we loved and lost.” — Michael Bloomberg