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My younger sister and I were both in Manhattan at the time. I was near the 59th Street Bridge which connects Manhattan to Queens. She was near the Empire State Building which they thought might be the next target. I was on the phone for over an hour trying to locate my family. My mother works a few blocks from the WTC. Luckily, she didn't have to be in her office until noon so she was at home. My youngest sister, who works from 10 to 6 in midtown, turned on the television to check the weather when she saw what happened. She stayed at home also. I located my family and waited for my sister to arrive so she could get home to Queens. I had never seen anything like the throngs of people that day. They looked like refugees that you see on the news. This didn't look like New York City. I waited for my sister. She looked terrified. As she walked near the United Nations someone screamed out, "They're attacking the U.N.!" People started to run. She could hear a rumble of hundreds of people running. My sister is small and had walked pretty far already so when the stampede started she was certain that she would be trampled. She threw herself up against a building so she wouldn't get crushed. When I finally saw her she was terrified. There was no public transportation that day and for a few days later. I managed to hail a cab for her to take her over the bridge. She walked home from there. By 3:00 the city had become eerily quiet. I spent the next few days paralyzed in shock. Later that night I found out that a neighbor was missing. He had been a firefighter for less than a year and was 23.
I still can't think about that day without feeling like the world was ending around me and I couldn't do a thing. I was about three miles away from the World Trade Center so I wasn't there and didn't see it up close. There are so many people who were directly involved and injured or lost a family member so I feel grateful that my family and friends are safe. Sometimes I feel sad or guilty when I feel that way. My sister feels guilty for taking a cab over the bridge when thousands of people had to walk. That day was pure evil and terror, and I pray that something like it never happens again.
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