6 Years Ago...

Sorry to be a downer on such a happy board, but girls, we have to remember 9-11!

9-11 changed my life entirely. It saddens me, it angers me, it scares me, but in the same breath- it has strengthened me, it made me grow up QUICK, it truly has changed my life.

I will never ever forget the day. I got off the LIRR in Penn at around 7:30 something I remember I was listening to the new album 'Toxicity' by System of a Down [which if any of you know this album, is eerily coincidental to the situation] And I remember hearing a plane overhead and seeing the man in front of me looking up to the sky. I simply turned my headphones up louder and took off down 34th St.

I arrived to Park Ave, midtown, and got into my building.. a few short minutes later I heard that a plane had crashed into one of the Twin Towers .... We were all SO upset. THEN we heard about the second tower. This is when we all realized, holy fckin sht we're being ATTACKED. We were running all around trying to call people and find quarters for pay phones as our cells didn't work. I remember going outside and looking to my left [uptown] and the sky was bright blue, the most beautiful sky ever. Then I looked to my right [downtown] and it was the scariest sight ever. Sky was black. All I could see was death.

A very very very long story short, DH [who was my BF of 3 years at the time] made contact with me, and then I got a call from my mother. The phone calls were coming in non stop but my mom finally had spoken to my aunt [the one who made my wedding dress] and she had me meet up with her and the rest of my family on 3rd Ave somewhere. That's when we walked over the 59th Street bridge, looking to our right at the skyline completely up in smoke. It was the saddest, scariest sight I'd even seen, and have ever seen to this day. We got into Queens and my brother came in from Nassau to pick us all up in a van.

I was nothing but relieved to be home with my family, but I could not stop praying & thinking about everyone ELSE. The people that I never met in my life. The ones I never will meet in my life. The ones who I HAVE met since that day... So many lives were lost and all for what???

That morning at 7am I was a 19 year old punk @ss just trying to make a life for myself, ignorant as all hell, and in my own la-la-land. Don't get me wrong, I was never a self-centered kid who didn't care about anything but myself. But by 7pm I truly changed my entire life. I completely matured, I cared about politics, I cared about our government and our city. Things that I'd never put into perspective were all too clear to me.

I would not change it for the world. I am THANKFUL that I was in NYC on 9-11. I am THANKFUL that I did not lose anyone. And I am THANKFUL that I am compassionate enough to post this and tell any of you girls out there that I was and still am praying for you and your families. The ones who were, and weren't, affected by this day. I am deeply moved by those who have lost and have moved on. YOU are the strongest person I will ever not know.

Please girls, lets pray today, for all those out there that we know and DON'T know. Turn these negative thoughts and actions into positive ones knowing that there are people out there crying for other people whom they don't even know. Stay strong

Nice story, Rosella.

I remember you telling me this a while back. Is this when u were in the beauty school?

What a great thing to share with us Rosella...i will add my own life changing story later...

Ok..i am back. I wrote a 4 page Word document recalling all the events of that day the following day..so that i would never forget. I will try to give you the short version.

I was 28 & working as a Graphic Artist downtown. DH & I were dating for a few months at the time...he lived in Israel for work, and I always thought it was so dangerous and worried about him being there. He was on a plane that morning heading from Israel to LA.

I got into my office, which was 2 blocks from the WTC around 7:30am...my first job of the day was to do a 3-D Lucite sketch of the WTC of all things. They had been doing construction on the building next to us, so when the 1st plane hit, we honestly thought they dropped something on our roof like they had done before. Until another artist asked me for the digital camera...when i asked what he needed it for & he replied 'there is a hole in the WTC' we all ran up onto the roof to see for ourselves. The construction workers said they saw a plane hit...my first thought was technical or pilot error. Not once did terrorism come to mind. We saw flames & smoke coming from the building & people hanging out of the windows above the fire waving for help...it was awful to watch & know they were trapped.

We went back into the office & i stared at the sketch of the towers on my screen thinking how ironic it was. We all just kind of sat there stunned...then we heard another loud crash...that was the second plane. Someone confirmed it was a second plane..and that's when i knew it was no accident...and my stomach dropped. We went back onto the roof..debris was flying everywhere..and we didn't know it at the time but the landing gear crashed thru 2 stories of the building right next to us. Then someone came running screaming from the floor above us to evacuate the building. i grabbed my stuff and ran down the 5 flights of steps...it was chaos on the street...so i stayed in the small lobby of my building with my boss.

He & I eventually went back up to the office...everyone else just left. I figured I'd stay put because there was no way to get out of the city. Had i known the towers were going to collapse I would've ran like hell but i didn't. I was finally able to call my parents who were worried...i said i was fine & not worry.

Then the first tower went down. I had no idea what was happening at the time..i was in my office & heard this horrendous noise and the building started to shake..i was terrified not knowing what was happening and started praying. When it stopped and i looked out the window it was just solid black, i had no clue what happened until i was able to call my parents. My Mom thought we were already killed when she watched on tv...i told her not to worry but made sure to tell her to tell my Dad that i loved them both very much & that if something happened to me to know i'd be in heaven with all of our relatives so not to be sad. It was hard for me to say all this without crying as i honestly didn't know if i'd make it home. This was the first time in 28 years of life i thought i might actually die.

I also learned about the other plane crashes & hijackings and all i could think of was DH on a plane not knowing if he was safe or not. I remember sitting there thinking that there were so many things i wanted to do before i died, and that i hoped this was not the end. I wanted to get engaged and have a wedding and do all those things in life that you save for 'someday'. I wanted to just crawl up in a ball & cry my eyes out but there was no way i'd do that in front of my boss.

I was on the phone with my brother who worked in Midtown when the second tower started going down...i screamed 'i gotta go!!!' hung up the phone & ran under a dorrway. I knew that sound..it was the 2nd tower going down and that one was closer...the building shook, the lights were going on & off and all i could picture was the building falling on top of us.Fear for my life came again and so did my faith in prayer. It stopped & was just black outside again. I got thru to my parents 45 minutes later...my Dad answered because my Mom was hysterical crying thinking we were killed by debris. But we had survived. I called my brother back & told him we'd head up to him as soon as it cleared up a bit outside. He told me to never scare him like that again.

I still had no word on how DH was...and he apparently had heard about the attacks..called a friend in Israel from the airplane and heard the WTC was gone, and he thought i was gone too. I eventually walked from downtown to midtown with my boss and stayed with my brother the rest of the afternoon until we left around 5pm and were able to catch trains to LI. I found out at 5:30pm that DH had been re-routed to Switzerland since he left a message on my answering machine...and since i had changed my outgoing message he finally knew i was ok. There are so many more details to this day but here's what i learned....

you can never say 'I love you' too much...because you never know when it may be the last time you get to say it. I learned that the little things in life only matter when you can’t focus on the big picture. I learned that one life can touch and affect so many others. I learned that we will never understand god’s plans but we must learn to accept our inability to comprehend it and embrace our inability to change it.

I also learned, thru fear of death to live. All those things i was 'afraid' to do cause i might get hurt or get killed became goals and dreams instead of obstacles. I have since traveled to Israel and many other countries...gone skydiving...and got a motorcycle. I will not live in fear and i do not. So a big thank you to the terrorists for helping me realize that...sorry your plan didn't work in making me crawl into a hole. Whenever i fly i vow that if i am ever in the situation on a plane with a terrorsit...i am taking them down...

My heart goes out to all the families of those who never made it home that day...i still cry when i think of my mom & DH thinking i was already gone..and how so many people had to live that reality. My prayers are with them.

i can't believe it's been 6 years.
so sad!!!

thanks for sharing..

That gave me the chills.

Here is my story:

It was a little after 8am on 9/11/2001 and a friend and I were circling around NYU looking for parking. I hear a a plane fly really low and make this incredibly loud sound - I looked up but didn't think anything of it. Then - looking forward I saw one of the most horrific things of my life - that same plane crashing into one of the twin towers right before my very eyes. We turned on the radio and heard countless speculations as to what was happening. A little while later, when we had already parked we saw the second plane crash into the second tower. We knew instantly that we had to run. The only problem is that my friends mom worked a few blocks away from the towers and it was impossible to reach her with our cellphones because EVERYONE was trying to use them at that moment trying to reach their loved ones.

We did the only thing we could do - we started running toward the towers while the rest of Manhattan was running in the oposite direction. I saw soooo many people crying, yelling, covered in dust and looking so frightened and exhausted. I stopped several times to offer my cellphone to those that were trying to make contact with thier families and friends. .....it was so awful to see so many people crying.

We finally arrived at her building and found her to be safe. I was finally able to reach my parents who had been worried sick because NYU is so close to the towers and they couldn't reach me for about 3 hours since it happened, and then I called DH (we had been dating for just a few months at that point). Then I spent the rest of the day sitting in my friend's mom's office wondering if this was the end of the attacks or if there would be more. I have never been so afraid for my life before.

Manhattan was closed down, there was no way to get back home but to walk back to brooklyn. We got our stuff ready and walked with a couple of hundred people over the Brooklyn Bridge to get home. Smoke was everywhere and the sight of the attacks was just too much for me to handle. I cried the whole 2 hr walk back home.

9/11 will never be forgotten. It angers me, sadens me, humbles me and will forever leave a lasting impression in my memories.

I'm praying for everyone that was affected by the attacks which is basically me praying for the whole world because I can't imagine anyone not being affected by what happened on 9/11. I'm sorry for anyone that has lost a loved one. Thanfully I didn't lose anyone but I know that I definitely lost something on that awful day - I lost a little part of me.

wow - that just gave me the chills. It is definately a day that has impacted all Americans, esp NYers.

Thank you for your story Ev..

Please share your stories girls! This was a life-altering day

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Posted by MrsBartonToBe

Thank you for your story Ev..

Please share your stories girls! This was a life-altering day

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Oh no problem. Thank you for sharing yours. it's so hard to talk/type about it b/c it forces me to think about it - 6 years later it's still incredibly dfficult to do so

6 years ago I was in college. I had an early class that morning so I had no idea what was going on. I went from one class to the next when one of my classmates told me 'a plane just hit one of the Twin Towers'

here I am thinking it's a small 2 person plane. How could anything bigger hit the tower? It didn't make sense. Fast forward an hour. The class lets out and the TV in the lounge is on. There are people gathered all around it. I pop in to see what's so interesting. I couldn't believe my eyes. Through all the smoke I kept saying what view is this? Why can't I see the other tower? I hadn't realized it had already fallen.

My next thought was for my dad. He was in the first bombing -- 2 of his best friends were seriously injured -- I tried frantically to call him. My cell phone wouldn't work. I got out of there just as the second tower was collapsing. I ran to my car and drove home. I honestly don't remember the drive. It was like I was on auto-pilot.

I got home and there was a message on the answering machine from my dad. He was leaving the building (he worked at 7 WTC) and was on his way home. I didn't hear from him again until 7pm that night.

As days passed we heard of people from our town who had lost loved ones. It was such a terrible day that I will never forget for the rest of my life.

life is short -- enjoy every second of it.

I was not in Manhattan at the time of 9-11, but had family and DH was in manhattan at the time. I couldnt belive what I was hearing. I was in denial till I say the photoge on TV and living in Queens I saw the smoke for about a week. I was able to reach everyone of my family and DH at some point that day, but I have alot of friends who lost there parents. I know a couple of Firemen who lost there lives trying to save others. It has changed my life also. Do not take people forgranted and try to help people. I cant stop thinking about all the people who lost there loved ones. Parents losing there children, kids losing there parents. I have met some of the families and to see them heartbroken, I will never forget that feeling or there pain. My sister was in high school at the time and she remembers before they anounced what happened they asked all the kids who had family in the towers to come down to the auditorium, I can't imagine the fear they felt because my brother was blocks away and I felt it.

6 years ago I was sitting in the library at New York Law School waiting for my con law class to start. NYLS is about 8? blocks north of ground zero on Worth Street between Church and W. Broadway. If you stood on W. B-way and looked South it was literally a straight shot of the towers.

I was sitting in the library and all of sudden I heard a tremendous noise like 2 dumpsters slamming into each other. I ran to the window and didn't see anything...but then a few minutes later it was pandemonium in the streets. People looked really panicked, so I ran outside to see what was going on. Someone in the library said they heard the towers were being bombed. By the time I got outside and saw the towers on fire it was chaos on the streets. People were on their knees praying, crying, frantically trying to call loved ones. Someone said the towers could fall over, and if they fell in our direction we would all be killed. (Of course the towers collapsed, but that seemed like a rational thought at the time). It was like a war zone....and I wasn't sure what I should do. I was scared to be on the street, but I was afraid of being trapped in a building. A crazy person ran through the student center yelling 'there is a bomb in the building.' Nothing seemed real! I commuted into the city from Long Island, so I was trying to figure out what I should do. I called my mom from a pay phone in the library and she was so happy to hear from me...she told me there were no trains leaving Penn...and that I should try to get to my cousin's apartment uptown. So I told her that was my plan, and I started walking uptown. It was the most scared I have ever been in my life. I was by myself, and I had no idea what was going on.
At one point I had on my backpack which weighed a TON between my books and laptop, and I thought, 'what if this is holding me down, and I should be moving faster?' Everything seemed like a life or death decision at that point.
When I finally got to my cousins apartment I learned about the pentagon and the fourth plane that crashed, and I could not believe it. It had been the most beautiful day, and everything changed in an instant.

My friend Jimmy died on 9/11. He worked for Cantor Fitzgerald, and he was an amazing person, and he is missed tremendously

i was 21 and working at News12.com as a website editor. Since I worked in a newsroom we had TVs everywhere. I walked in that morning and there was only one person in before me. The phones were ringing off the hook. I stared at the tv and I saw the image of the plane going into the tower. At first we thought it was a horrible accident, then the second hit and we freaked out. My managing editor came running into the room and told us to get to work cause footage was starting to pour in.

The next few hours were a blur. I had to edit the footage to make it presentable to show on television, so i saw more than i needed to. i also had to post pictures of the missing people that family and friends were sending us to put on the site and the news show.

we worked for 5 hours straight before my boss made me go outside and take a break. it was so eery looking at the sky and seeing how beautiful it looked and 40 miles away the towers were falling.

thanks...i needed to get that out. i dread seeing anything 9/11 related on tv or in the paper. i dont like remembering the footage i saw but i know we have to remember it.

am i the only one who refused to see the 9/11 movie?

I was house sitting on 59th and 2nd Avenue that week. I woke up that morning and was walking to the office I worked on 56th between 5th and 6th and I see construction workers/business men just standing around a car listening to the radio. They were saying a plane hit the world trade center and everybody thought it was an accident. I went to order breakfast and as I was waiting for my bagel the second plane hit, I will never forget the look of everybody face in that deli, it was such a surreal moment. I went int to the office and everybody was in the conference room waiting.... one of our coworkers lived downtown and he was on his rooftop watching the whole thing we had him on speaker.. and there must have been a bit of delay on the TV, because I would say 2-3 seconds before we actually saw the first tower go down... he was yelling in to the phone OMG OMG the tower just felll the tower just fell...by the time it registered what he was saying we saw it happen on TV, at that moment I knew nothing would be the same. I couldnt get in contact with anyone.. my best friend was in the city with her 4 year old nephew taking him to the rosie O'donnel show and I knew they had nowhere to go. I finally got in contact with them and we went to the apartment I was house sitting. My BF's 4 year old cousin just wanted to go home but he couldnt he could not understand what was going on all he wanted was his mom.. it was so sad. That whole night staying in the city was so scary hearing the fighter jets over your head, the sirens, ambulance .. I was so scared to turn on the news and see what else had happened... I woke up the next morning and took the first train home. Returning back to work was really hard but the days after 9/11 I have never looked at so many people in the eye, in the face it was like we were all feeling the same thing. As a commuter you usually look at noone just get to the train, the subway you actually try and avoid people but everybody was looking at each other in the face like I know what you are going through we are feeling the same thing.

Also, on 9/11 being so close to the Queens bridge on 59th I saw the most amazing acts of kindness delivery men, emptying out their truck and filling as many people in their truck as possible. Strangers sitting on each others laps in taxis just to help someone over the bridge. It was amazing to see such acts of kindness and generousity in the mist of horror I just knew that we would be okay.

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Posted by qtdimps23

am i the only one who refused to see the 9/11 movie?

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Sorry,'08er crashing. No, you're not. I absolutely refuse to see that movie. I will not partake in any profits made off of that day. JMO.

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Posted by AmandaLynn04

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Posted by qtdimps23

am i the only one who refused to see the 9/11 movie?

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Sorry,'08er crashing. No, you're not. I absolutely refuse to see that movie. I will not partake in any profits made off of that day. JMO.

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amen!!!

6 years ago today I, like many of you, had a life altering experience that I will never forget. I was a college sophomore attending Pace University, which is a few blocks away from the towers and since I was a commuter from Brooklyn I took the trains that passed directly under the WTC towers every morning. It was 8:30 and I had just gotten off the train and exited the towers making my way towards Pace and my 9am Philosophy class, I was waiting on the corner of WTC waiting to cross the street when all of a sudden I heard the loudest noise I had ever heard in my life. When I heard the impact I didn't look up or behind me because all it took was seeing what was happening in front of me to understand that I had to run. People had abandoned their cars in the street and started running...not knowing what was going on I started to run with them, too afraid to look back behind me. When I finally crossed the street I looked over my shoulder and saw the fire burning in the WTC and the gaping hole left by the plane that had just hit. I kept running and made it to Pace, went to class, where we were told that a small plane had hit the Tower and that it was an accident...nothing to worry about.

We sit through an hour of class and then we hear the loud thuds of the first tower crashing. We run to the windows outside the classroom...the streets were covered in white ash, people running....

Not knowing what to do or where to go, I leave my school and start running across the street to a nearby office building. I couldn't see a thing...it was like walking in pitch black darkness. I grabbed onto someone and he took my hand and told me to hold on and he would guide me inside. Once inside the building I found other classmates that had left Pace as well and we all huddles together listening to handheld radios and bulletins coming in of planes hitting the Pentagon and planes on their way to the Whitehouse. After a few hours one man was able to get service on his phone so I begged him if I could use it just to make one phone call...I called my mom and finally put her worries at ease. Since I was so close to everything that was happening she was fearing the worst.

I finally made it home that day after walking over the Brooklyn Bridge. When I got home I had a fever...most likely from all the toxins I breathed in that day, but I was just happy to be alive and home and away from that nightmare.

That day scarred me and I went through a really tough year trying to deal with it. The nightmares, not being able to look up when I heard a plane flying by and most of all not being able to go back to my school. I tried for one week, but being there just brought back too many flashbacks of that terrible morning. I took the semester off and then in January I enrolled in Brooklyn College for one semester. Finally, the following September, I went back to Pace and graduated from there which really meant a lot to me especially after everything that had happened.

Today I work very close to WTC and every monring when I'm passing by I remember what happened on that day and how it changed my life and made me stronger. My heart goes out to all those who lost their life on that day and to their families who lost their loved ones in such a tragic way.

Everyone-don't forget to tell your DH and fam that you love them-the worst crime we can commit is to allow those who perished on 9/11 to die in vain-we need to learn that life is too short not to remind those that we love that we love them and to stick together and support each other!

Never forget-that is the worst crime we can commit