My husband and I were very sad 11 years ago today September 10th, 2001 - it was the last day of our honeymoon. As we left our hotel room in Jamaica, we cried a few bittersweet tears. We had spent the last eight days in paradise after all! We made the long trip back to the airport in almost silence, as the other two couples in the van did also. The plane was delayed for a little while and then finally, we boarded not knowing what we were heading back to NYC to.
The ride was a rough one. Thunderstorms were up and down the East Coast which made for quite a bumpy ride. To make matters worse for this bad flyer, we were also delayed landing so we had to circle the Tri-State area several times. When we were finally cleared to land, I looked out the window as we descended into Newark Airport. The New York City skyline looked so beautiful! The thunderstorms had cleared the smog from the air and all the lights in the skyline seemed to twinkle a little brighter. I remarked to my new husband to take a look. He thought the same thing, it looked a little extra-ordinary that night. And there really is nothing like looking at the NYC skyline lit up as your plane circles directly across from it! When we landed we hurried to get home as we were both tired and actually looking forward to our own bed! As we drove back to Queens with the hour approaching midnight, I saw the Empire State Building lights turn out. I had always love to see them go out and come on, since it was a rare thing to witness, even to those that live in New York.
When we got home we quickly unpacked and made our plans for the next morning: sleep in, get breakfast, vote (it was primary day in NYC), collect our mail, and do laundry. We had reserved Tuesday, September 11th as our recovery day from the Honeymoon, Wedding, etc. Our day to prep to get back into the swing of TV Research and Human Resources that awaited us the day after at our jobs. Off to sleep we went for the first time as husband and wife in our little apartment in Forest Hills.
I woke up in the 8 o'clock hour to a bright sun glowing through the blinds. I turned over and went back to sleep. A little after 9 am the phone rang. My husband slowly got up to answer it. I told him "No, it's probably just a political call". We had been getting tons of them since it was election season. Our family had known we got home safe and sound the night before so I knew it wasn't one of them. Silently I cursed the caller for awakening us on our recovery day. My husband answered the phone and quickly, almost violently, grabbed for the remote control of the TV. I looked at his face and knew something was up. I actually first thought the president had been shot. I knew it was something major since my sister was the one who called. As my eyes cleared and the TV came into focus, I could see the scene of the Towers on fire. I thought "Oh my God! We are being attacked!". As I said the words in my head, my husband said them out loud.
I could hear the sirens blaring outside as the firetrucks, police cars, and ambulances of Queens were heading to downtown Manhattan. We didn't know what to do. We watched the replays of the second plane hitting the South Tower on the "Today Show". We just kept saying "Oh my god" and "Holy Shit!" a lot. About 9:30 am the phone rang again as my mother in-law called to check on us. I started to think "Wait - who do we know that works in the Towers?" We went through our friends and tried to account for everyone. The phones had started to lose service so we went to the internet where I sent an email out while I had an opportunity to to let people know we were home in our apartment, safe. Our cell phones had shoddy service but I was able to talk to my dad for a couple minutes too.
When the news broke that the Pentagon had been hit too, that is when I got scared. Who else was going to get hit? Where else were these planes in the air? Then, the first tower fell, then the second. It seemed surreal. How many lives had been lost!? That beautiful skyline we had gushed over just 12 hours ago was altered forever. What was to happen next?
There were reports not to drink the water, not to go near the subway, then go give blood, donate to the Red Cross. We gathered ourselves best we could and headed outside. As we rounded the corner, the thick ash covered the sky. Thousands of people were on the streets around us. An ambulette vehicle pulled up near us and about 5 men in black suits with earpieces jumped out of the back. We saw a couple people with ash on them walk by us. People were crying, some others were rushing around looking lost, some others were walking with a purpose - probably just wanted to get HOME! We were advised to get money, cash, out of the ATM. The first two we tried were not working. Finally we found one that worked and got a bunch of cash, Why? I have no idea. I don't know what having cash really meant, but we just went through the motions. Well, that is what we did for the next several days, weeks, just went through the motions.
That day we got our breakfast, got our mail too. Voting was canceled, of course. Later in the day, when we couldn't figure out what else to do, we even did our laundry while watching Peter Jennings trying to keep his cool on the air that afternoon. However, what we never got to do that day was recover and well, I don't know if we ever really have.
