9/11 Post

[lesliepear]

8 years ago today I was called to jury duty in Hackensack, NJ instead of going to work at the Detusche Bank/Banker's Trust building across the street from the WTC. (The building was destroyed from WTC debris and I think has finally been demolished). I am forever grateful for that. I've probably told the tale on LJ before - I probably should look back and link it sometime.

I didn't lose anyone directly in the attacks - but knew of a few with several degrees of seperation - my cousins friend, the Port Authority Director, a former coworker, another friends ex-brother-in-law, and 4 people from the company I now work for.

I won't forget the sights and sounds I saw - the smoke from the Towers, the emergency vehicles driving on Rt 80, the smokey smell lingering Lower Manhattan. To this day, I've avoided the area as much as possible. When my grandmother died several years ago, the funeral procession went past the Towers to the Battery Tunnel to go the cemetary in Brooklyn where she was buried - it was harder for me than her funeral.

Alan thinks today is "America Day" - maybe because he was told to wear red white and blue. I am also as I've done since the 1st anniversary. It's usually an Old Navy flag shirt if it isn't a working day or my safety pin flag I got after 9/11, if I'm working. I wonder what they will teach Alan in school about it. It's weird to think the WTC will only exist in pictures, videos and books for him. I remember seeing concerts on the concourse - or walking around the emptiness of it when I was working around there on the Labor Day weekend before 9/11 (we had software to implement, I was testing as it was installed on the weekend). I even remember little things like the Halloween shop just about to open - and attending a professional group meeting on the 99th floor and feeling the bulding shake from wind.

I feel bad for people born on 9/11, especially those born prior to 9/11/01 whose birthday is never the same now. We have 3 friends in real life with that birthday and I have a few net friends on LJ (and elsewhere). I always want to wish them a Happy Birthday so it isn't such a sad day.