1 World Trade Center (North Tower)
New York City
The sun hung low, barely cresting the tops of the skyscrapers. She stood at the window, staring
down at the tiny forms hustling about on the street far below. She sipped her coffee. Breath
hissed between her teeth as the hot fluid scalded her tongue. Just a moment, she thought,
leaning her head on the glass. Her appointment book was full for the day...clients all morning, and a
meeting with her daughter's teacher at three. Her phone buzzed. With a sigh, she turned from
the
window and climbed behind her desk. She snatched up the phone. "Yes?" A pause to glance at the
clock. 8:35. Her first appointment was at 9. She still had a little time. "Fine. Just have the
files on my desk by noon. No, I have to leave at 2:30. Right." She hung up the phone and
leaned
back in her chair. Beneath the desk, she kicked off her heels, flexed her toes into the soft
carpet, and turned to her computer.
The Pentagon
The familiar sound of bootheels echoed down the hall. He sat back at his desk, enjoying his cup of coffee. Thank God he'd finally found a secretary who could brew a decent pot. File folders lay stacked neatly in one pile. His in-basket was full, and, at the moment, his out-basket was empty. His office was very military...everything in it's place. He glanced at his watch. 08:35. He nodded. He thought ahead to 13:00, a smile curled his lips - one o'clock, his wife would say - when he would meet his wife for lunch. Nothing fancy. Just a sandwich and a soda on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial. Every day, like clockwork, they sat on the steps together...like on the day they'd met over 30 years ago. With a sigh, he set down his cup, and pulled the top file folder off the stack.
Shanksville, PA
She knelt in the garden, feeling the soil cushion her knees. The soft breeze brushed her hair over her face, and, with a sigh she brushed it back, tucking the white strands behind her ear. She'd left the back door open, and through it she could hear Good Morning America. Drat that man, she thought, the least he could do was turn the volume down. He knew she didn't like that show. She didn't like that blonde woman...what was her name? She shook her head. And the Gibbons fellow. Or was it Gibson? She wrinkled her nose. She glanced at her watch. 8:35. Only 25 more minutes. Then she could watch a good show...Regis and Kelly. She sighed. She really did miss Kathie Lee. With a shrug of her shoulders, she bent to tend her vegetables.
8:45AM
1 World Trade Center (North Tower)
New York City
She slipped her feet back into her pumps. Only fifteen minutes to go to her first meeting. She drained her cup of coffee and set it on the table. "Ma'am?" She looked up to see her new secretary walking in with a handful of papers. "About these...." The words dried in the secretary's mouth. She turned to the window, curious to see what could have caught the other woman's attention.
9:40AM
The Pentagon
The building was in an uproar. Men and women darted up and down the halls. Two planes had crashed into both World Trade Center towers. He remembered that one Christmas when he'd taken the family to New York. They'd watched the lighting of the tree in Rockerfeller Center. They'd visited those towers. He'd called his wife as soon as he'd heard. Yes, they'd gotten orders to clear out. They were clearing all of DC as well. She didn't ask when he'd be home and he didn't try to hazard a guess. "I love you," he told her, listened to her reply then hung up the phone. Now, his sure strides carried him down the hallway, his bootheels ringing with each step. Two more years to retirement, he thought. He bumped into a young man standing at a window. Idly, he watched the sheaf of papers tumble from the young man's hands. He reached the window and followed the young man's gaze.
10:37AM
Shanksville, PA
She sat on the couch beside her husband. Tears trickled in a steady stream from her eyes. Gone. The World Trade Center was gone. All those people that had been trapped, gone when first the south tower fell...then the north. The Pentagon had been hit. She gripped her husband's hand tightly, her knuckles prominent amid the brown spots. A loud boom shook the house, and she screamed. The dog started barking, howling. She rose on shaky legs, telling her husband she'd be right back. Wasn't much he could do to stop her, except follow her to the back door in his wheelchair. She stood on the back porch, one hand raised to her brow to shade from the sun. Black smoke billowed and streamed upward. The breeze carried with it the thick stench of jet fuel.
In the Aftermath
The President addressed the nation. "Today, our nation saw evil."
The images replayed over and over. American Airlines Flight 11 crashing into 1 World Trade Center (the north tower). United Airlines Flight 175 slamming into 2 World Trade Center (the south tower). American Airlines Flight 77 hitting the Pentagon. United Airlines Flight 93 crashing in a field in Shanksville, PA, 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. The collapse of both towers...the south tower first...then the north tower. Images of New York City being relayed to the viewers at work and and home remind many of so many broadcasts sent from Israel...Beirut...Ireland. Countries plagued with bombings. War zones.
"These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve."
As a nation, we grieved. In trying to drive us apart, we were even more strongly united. Ribbons were worn proudly to remember that tragic day. Flags sold out in record time, to be hung from porches, window ledges, not only flagpoles.
ONE YEAR LATER
The "debris" of the fallen towers is gone from World Trade Center Plaza. Plans are underway for the rebuilding, including a memorial for the thousands tragically lost. Rebuilding is nearly complete at the Pentagon. A simple memorial stands in the field at Shanksville, PA, erected by local citizens.
There are so many stories from that day. Men...women...children...who lost their lives that fateful day.
Now, nearly a year later, we go about our lives. We worry about the same things we worried about on September 10, 2001. We eat. We drink. We make love. We fight. The world turns and rumors that Osama Bin Laden is alive are merely a blur on the way to Mtv. It's just a typical day.
But, then again, September 11, 2001, started out as a typical day for the nearly 3,000 men, women, and children who lost their lives that day.
Didn't it?
In Memoriam for those who lost their lives and their loved ones
