40 PEEKS | MY 9/11 STORY

Today marks the anniversary of one of the most tragic events in US history: 9/11.  I spent that day 13 years ago in New York City in the middle of all the devastation.  I thought it would be fitting to share my story here today as part of my series “40 PEEKS”.  This story is one of many defining stories in my life and I wanted to preserve it here on my blog so I never forget.  I don’t think it’s possible for me to actually forget but over time, some of the details become less clear.  On the 10th anniversary of 9/11, I wrote down my story and then created a layout which was heavily inspired by the talented Laura Vegas.  Here is the layout and I’ve typed out the journaling below in case it’s hard to read on the image.

Journaling reads:

“Ten years ago, I was there to experience it all.  I worked on Wall Street & took the PATH train to the World Trade Center every morning.  On 9/11, I went to work about 15 minutes early b/c someone needed to use my computer for a training session.  I had just started the job 4 weeks earlier & the rest of my “start class” was coming in that week.  We were in a conference room on the 22nd floor when someone came running in about the plane accident.  We ran into another conference room & could see the first plane hanging out of the WTC & it looked like it was “raining” papers everywhere. Shortly after we heard about the second plane & knew it was time to get out of there.

I remember running to my desk (on a different floor), grabbling my stuff & calling my mom to tell her I was ok & that I was leaving.  She hadn’t heard the news yet & I remember her telling me to get out of there & go wherever I needed to go.  I headed out of the building with some colleagues (who I barely knew since I had only been there a few weeks).  No one really knew what to do & we were all standing amidst the papers that had been flying all over downtown.  At the time, I lived across the Hudson river & my way out of the city was through the WTC & there was no way I was going back there.  I found one of my newbie colleagues & we decided we were going to try & walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to where she lived.  However, as we were figuring out a plan, we saw a TV through the glass windows of the Charles Schwab office next door & saw that the Pentagon was hit.  We knew it was time to run.

We started heading down Wall Street towards the water when all of a sudden, it sounded like bombs going off everywhere…and then the smoke debris filled the narrow streets downtown.  We all started to run in a panic & the only place we couldn’t see smoke was towards the water so that’s where we went.  We ended up by a dock that wasn’t actively being used.  We had to jump a fence (heels & all) & just stood on the dock praying someone would come save us.  As we looked back into the city, there was smoke everywhere & thousands of people running towards us.  We thought for sure if we didn’t get “bombed”, we would die in the river if that dock broke.  Some of the guys were ripping apart their shirts & sharing them with us so we could cover our mouths/noses from the smoke while we waited…

Luckily for us, a ferry boat came by & picked us up.  There was a lot of confusion, people pushing to get on & people wanting to go to different places around the city.  I didn’t care where the ferry was going, I just wanted to get off the island.  We all got on, put on life vests & prayed.  We heard the boat was taking us to NJ which was perfect for me since I lived over there & my family was on that side as well.  It didn’t matter where they dropped us off…I would walk somewhere if I had to.

At this point, we still didn’t know what was going on.  We thought the city was being bombed & had no idea that all the noise & debris was from the first building falling.  While we were on the ferry, I tried getting my cell phone to work so I could call my mom again but couldn’t get any service.  As I had my head down looking at my phone, everyone on the boat started freaking out & screaming.  I looked up from my phone to see one of the towers completely on fire at the top & the minute I looked up, the entire building crumbled to the ground right before my eyes.  The panic increased & all I wanted was to get off that boat.  We all thought our boat would be bombed in the middle of the river & felt extremely exposed out there.

Due to the severity of the situation, the ferry dropped us off in a different spot that originally planned…which for us, worked out perfectly.  As we got off the boat, I looked up & saw my building not too far away.  I lived on the 23rd floor & there was no way I was going up there but I had a plan.  I had a car in the garage & we were going to try & drive to my parents’ house who lived about 45 minutes away.  I took 4 girls from work with me who I really didn’t know but we all just stuck together throughout the experience.  We got in my car & drove away…completely terrorized.

We were part of the fortunate group that got out that day.  We got on one of the first ferries out of the city & had a safe place to stay for a few days.  The girls from work stayed at my parents’ for a few days until they could get back to their homes safely or have someone pick them up.  We had no idea what actually happened that day until we got to my parents’ home & turned on the TV.  I don’t think any of us will ever forget the details of our experience.

I am very lucky that so many little things worked in my favor that day.  If I didn’t go to work 15 minutes early, I would have been underneath that building when it fell.  We got lucky that we didn’t head towards Brooklyn & got one of the first ferries out.  And we were very fortunate that we had someplace safe to go.  There were so many less fortunate & so many people who lost friends & family that day.  It was such a tragedy that I don’t think anyone will ever forget.

There are so many loved ones who never made it home & never got to say goodbye.  So many whose lives ended way too soon.  I’ve never written my story before but I’m glad I did today.  I’ve always wanted to preserve it somewhere but never had the heart to sit down & get it on paper.  Now, 10 years later, I think it’s finally time for me to document my 9/11 experience.”