I Will Never Forget..., Pt. 1

September 11, 2001We all know the date. We all have a story. This is mine. So many suffered so more than I but with the anniversary, I felt compelled to record the details of that morning. A morning that started out so normally and changed my life and the world so dramatically. A morning I would like to forget. But a morning I must remember.So to the question that we all ask, "where were you?", here's my story...I caught the wrong train. In the rush of my excitement, I had jumped on the first train which was the Express. The train dropped me seven blocks south of the call spot. Twenty – fiveminutes and seven blocks; I would have to hustle but I could do it. The red China Laundry platform Mary Janes weren't conducive to running the sidewalks of the Upper West Side but I was too excited to care.The sun streamed through the exit. I glanced at my black Swatch just before breaking street side, 8:22 am. I blinked as my eyes adjusted to the bright morning. God, was the sky blue. It was warm but there was a hint in the breeze of the fall to come. It seemed one of the most perfect New York mornings I had ever seen. I just knew this was going to be a special day.With a few “excuse me”s, and more than one jaywalking incident, I got there with five minutes to spare. A group of disparate, if attractive looking twenty-somethings, were gathered at the door of a Columbus Circle bar. I joined them just as young African-American man opened the heavy wooden door and let us in. We gathered on the bar stools or around tables. As the bar-man went through his day’s opening, he turned on the television to the Today show.Not knowing anyone in the group, I turned to the broadcast. The volume was too low to be heard over the chattering actors, but I stared at the screen trying to understand what I wasseeing. Was that a plane in one of the Towers? It must be some terrible accident. I turned to the skater looking guy with a Freddie Prinze, Jr. hairdo on my right and asked what he thought. I mentioned that the Christmas before I had flown into LaGuardia and my husband and I had circled the Towers for 45 minutes. At the time, we couldn't believe how close we got to the buildings. Surely that was what happened. It certainly wasn't the weather. There was not a cloud in the sky. The pilot must have circled too close.My cell phone rang. I dug out the cobalt blue Nokia to see my husband’s number on the screen. “Hi honey! Are you watching the news?”“Come home now. We’re under attack!”“What are you talking about? I know it’s awful but I’m sure the pilot just had a problem. And I finally booked a film. Let’s just see what happens”.I could tell he wanted to argue but I had played a trump card. “Keep your phone on you. I’m telling you this is no accident”.“Okay, okay.” I hung up and skater dude with the spiked hair gave me a quizzical look. “It’s weird”, I said, “my husband is freaking out”.By this time, the cacophony had quieted down and the bartender had turned up the TV. There were whispered questions and exclamations here and there. It occurred to me that my parents back in Houston might be watching the news. I picked up my phone again and dialed my Dad. It was now getting loud again in the bar so I stepped back out into the blinding day.“Hi, Daddy. In case, you’re watching the news, there seems to be a plane crash downtown. I just wanted you to know I’m nowhere near it. I’m way up in the West 90’s. Just wanted youto know I’m fine…” He said he appreciated the call and asked me to be careful. I agreed and stepped back in.A wave of gasps and cries broke out across the room as we saw the second plane fly directly into the second Tower. The realization hit me that this was not an accident. This was real and New York was under attack. I felt both hot and cold simultaneously. The sweat that gathered on my brow belied the chill in my heart.My phone rang again. “Get home before they shut down the city. We are under attack.” I nodded to the phone without words. My legs had grown heavy… “Traci, talk to me. What areyou doing? Come home!”A fear shook me as I realized that I was not safe anywhere in New York. It’s a freaking 13 mile island!!! I was less than ten miles away. And everything is a landmark. And all of sudden, they all seemed like targets. I felt surrounded by targets and I wanted to go home...