Below is my post from the 10th Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in 2011.
This year I spend the 11th Anniversary in the suburbs of Detroit, it's a beautiful fall day, much like 9/11/01, but very far removed from what happened that day.
I still love NYC, it's still my home, where my soul lives along with the loves of my life. I will never forget that day and the days following the attacks. I am grateful that I lived through the experience.
This morning I head to school, my thoughts and prayers always go out to everyone involved in 9/11, everyone affected deserves a prayer.
Below written 9/11/11:
I've lived in NYC since winter 1997.
For many years on St Marks between 1st Ave & Ave A, pretty great place to live in your 20s. Rent controlled apartment left to me by an old boyfriend, 4th floor walk up, filled with booze, friends, parties, late nights and a ton of memories.
Now I live in Park Slope, Brooklyn. I'm 39, divorced and sober.
On September 11, 2001 I was married and working at a job I wasn't really happy at in event marketing in the Flat Iron. Although I made some of my dearest friends working at that company.
That morning I slept in a bit later than usual, it was perfectly sunny and clear outside, I remember peeping out of the window next to my bed and thinking the weather reminded me of LA, which I was still homesick for, I missed waking up to clear sunny days everyday. So I went back to sleep.
When I woke up I picked up the phone (a landline with a 212 area code) to tell work I would be a bit late and the phone was dead, yelled to the husband to fix the phone convinced he had broken it and jumped in the shower. That crappy little bathroom which eventually had a hole in the floor you could see into the downstairs neighbors bathroom, it was that type of building.
While in the shower I heard my husband flip to the tv and then, "oh my god oh my god".
Of course I thought my husband was always so overreactive I kind of ignored him. Then I saw the tv.
Immediately I was convinced it was an accident. One plane had hit the World Trade Center. In fact I had just read a story about a small plane hitting the Empire State Building 40+ years earlier and it seemed to make perfect sense, my husband thought otherwise, "terrorists". "There is no way, that is an accident"
With that I dressed and we went up the roof of our building where there was a clear view of the tower. By the time we got upstairs the second plane had hit. There was a group of people on our roof and all the roofs of the East Village.
While we all stood there dumbfound, watching smoke billow out of the buildings a young black man walked onto the roof, he had just woken up. "What's going on?" We explained what we knew, his mouth dropped open. My mom works in the Trade Center, I need to call her and he headed down to his apartment.
At this point my husband and I decided the best thing was for me to check in to my office and he would head down to the World Trade Center to help. He is very tall 6'10" and thought he could be of help to emergency workers. It seemed like a good idea.
I started my walk down St Marks towards 4th Ave. When I got 2 blocks away two bus boys standing outside of a cafe said "they've hit the Pentagon".
Panic set in, we were at war, actual war. I headed back home quickly, my husband was running up the block to find me. I started crying, we went home.
Calming me down we decided that our plan was still for me to head to work where I could safely be with people and he would head downtown. We left home and walked to Broadway, I headed north, he headed south.
I walked up Broadway and then west to 5th Ave through Union Square. When I reached 5th Ave a clear view of downtown and the World Trade Center, someone yelled, "the towers are collapsing" Tons of people walking up 5th Avenue turned around as the towers fell. I turned north and stopped watching, I needed to get to my office.
Reaching my office everyone who made it to work was in the conference room crying or in shock. One person was missing her boyfriend, she was on the phone with him when the plane hit, the phone went dead.
After realizing my husband had been down there I started to panic, "was he there when the towers fell?"
My friend Molly walked in crying, we were missing friends setting up a concert in the middle of the plaza that was in between the towers. She couldn't get a hold of anyone.
A while later my husband walked in filled with dust, he was down there when the towers fell and took cover in a building vestibule.
The girl from my office found her boyfriend and all of our friends were ok, it did take a few days to track everyone down.
I honestly don't remember too much more about 9/11/01.
People stayed at my house because they couldn't get home, my friend Stefan and I got rip roaring drunk at Winnie's and ended up in some crazy Israeli peoples car who were on ecstasy, downtown was on lockdown and there was a smell that I pray I never smell again. Acrid, indescribable beyond that word that lasted for a long time.
We brought food and money to firehouses to thank them. It was ok to cry and hug a stranger. Give blood, stop and read all the missing person notices and just cry.
A year later on 9/11/02 I flew to Michigan on a business trip. That day I had my first panic attack, I have no idea if it was related. Panic attacks were something I dealt with for years afterwards.
9/11 is also three friends birthdays: Tara, Moby and Ted. They are all vegans or vegetarians. Interesting.
This year 9/11 is in your face, 10th anniversary. It's forced me to look at how much my life has changed since that day. Man, it's changed.
10 years seems like forever ago. I'm very grateful that I didn't know anyone in the towers, I have one friend that lost someone. Once in a while I meet a person that lost someone. For us it's easy to forget 9/11 a good portion of the time, they live with it everyday.
I love New York, someone asked me today if I was scared of terriorists. No, this is my home, Brooklyn/Manattan/NYC, this is where I am whole and myself, where I am truely supposed to be, I am proud of this city and proud to be a New Yorker.
Today/tonight I send my thoughts, prayers, love and light to everyone who was affected by 9/11. Which I hope is everyone in the world, never forget those who were lost, the freedom we are blessed with as people living in America, the wonderful creative city that is NYC and that life is precious, give a stranger a hug, I bet it will make you both feel better.
Shanon
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