This is the sky today. Very overcast, nothing too special, and I for one am VERY glad.
Seeing how it is the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 and seeing that the 5 year anniversary we were all concerned about our little girl, Emily. I figure today is the day I have to talk about where I was today, 10 LONG years ago.
I was a live in nanny not far from here. I had just started my job in July of that year. The couple worked in the financial district in New York but she would work from home quite often. That day started out like any other Tuesday. The father went off to go catch the train into the city about the time I started my day at 6 am. The mother, who was newly pregnant, left to go into the city about 30 minutes later. I did what I needed to do then got up their son at around 8 am. At about 8:30 we were in the kitchen eating breakfast.
I got a phone call while the little boy was about to finish his breakfast. It was the father asking if his wife went into “the city” today. I told him that she had and about the time that she left. He then said that a plane had hit the world trade center. He didn’t sound that urgent but clearly wanted to talk to his wife. I hung up the phone with him and thought for a second that it must have been like the plane that had hit the Empire State building in the 30’s or 40’s in heavy fog. Then I looked outside to see not cloud in the sky. It was really a beautiful day.
Within a few minutes the child was done with breakfast and for some strange reason (don’t know why I did this as I NEVER turned on the TV while working) I turned on the TV just to see the second plane hit the towers. I quickly turned off the TV thinking this is the LAST thing that we need to watch. Figuring that the parents both know my cell phone number, I decided to go on with a normal day for the little guy. So we went to the park. I mean, it was a nice day outside.
I got to the park and there was one other person there. It was clear that she didn’t know what was happening in New York and I wasn’t going to tell her. However within half of an hour, the park got more crowded and word got out quick. My cell phone number was a Pennsylvania number so my mom was able to call me from Florida. She informed me what was happening as she was learning it. At some point during this time I talked to both my employers, who had yet to talk to each other. Then my mom called me and told me the first tower went down. At that, I thought I should get back. After all, I had NO idea where my employers worked, just that they were down there. So we left the park and went back to the house.
When I got back I saw that the maternal grandmother was there and she was very angry at me for leaving the house. She had no idea where her daughter or son-in-law exactly worked but was clearly fearing the worst. I tried my best to calm her down but I wasn’t doing much good. Eventually we heard from both of my employers again. The father had hopped on a boat off of Manhattan and went to Hoboken and from there he was able to get on a train back down here. He was home in the afternoon as I played ball in the back yard with his son. He was wearing a white shirt that day and I was shocked how clean it still looked. He said that he was there till the first tower went down, then he left. When he got home I remember looking back up at the sky and I saw a white cloud in the distance towards where New York City was. To this day I believe that was from the destruction of that day.
He had got in touch wish his wife on his way home and she had found her way up at her brothers house in Manhattan. She spent the night there and then came home the following day. Turns out neither worked in the twin towers. They both worked across the street in 2 different buildings. She later told me what she experienced that day and how she was told to evacuate then told to go back to work. She ignored the request to go back to work and later got angry at them telling her to do so. She also saw the people jumping from the buildings and how horrific that was. I imagine it was really like a war scene for her.
That was where I was that day. I later went into New York just to look around and saw the walls with the missing and saw the flags lining Broadway and other streets. I was always scared of the World Trade center since I moved out here in 1995. I never wanted to go near them. I figured it was because of the 1993 bombing. I guess I feared something worse. The eve of the eve of 2000 I took a Path train that went under the World trade center complex. I remember thinking I couldn’t wait to leave. I just wanted to not be there anymore. That was as close to that area as I have got.
Jennifer