I’m sure everyone’s heard enough today, but I can’t write something silly or complaining tonight.
My neighbor knocked on my door the morning it happened, asking for a ride to the pharmacy. It was maybe 7:30, so it would have been 10:30 New York time. I remember we were sitting at the red light at Country Club, and she told me she heard on the news that New York was under attack.
I said no way, thinking she meant some sort of conventional warfare. It would take seven kinds of idiots to attack the US, especially New York. No one has the navy to sustain such a thing. I turned on the radio, and heard nothing but music. Maybe it hadn’t gotten through to our DJs, the horror behind the little bits of news they probably had.
When I got home, I turned on CNN, just to see what she had misinterpreted so badly. I came in just as they showed the first plane flying into the first tower. I remember the anchor wasn’t talking. I remember thinking how tiny the plane looked, but I knew it was a jetliner, from the shape. I was amazed at how big those towers were. I remember crying, thinking of the hundreds on the plane and in the building, that must have died. I thought it must be an accident, though how someone could fly into something so big…then they showed the second plane.
Then the towers fell.
I watched for hours, weeping on the couch.