Shortly before midnight on the 10th I left the 84th floor of tower two for the last time. I arrived at our offices in the Bronx at 7:45am on the 11th, and started making adjustments to the blueprints for the elevator retrofit. We were modernizing the local cars that ran from the sky lobby to the upper floors and had 83 employees at work in the two towers that morning. Our office manager came running in, telling us to turn on the TV, Reports where a small plane had hit the tower. As soon as the TV came on I knew it was not a small plane. We immediatly radioed our crews to leave the towers as we had no authority or training to assist in these situations. Every one made it out and had moved across the street to the Finacial Center. The second plane hit and we lost communcation. When the first tower fell, the whole office was a scene of chaos and sorrow. I was despertly calling friends in the second tower and surrounding buildings, frantically leaving messages. When the second tower fell, we went to the roof to stare at the cloud of smoke coming from what used to be my favorite place in New York.
All of our crews where safe, somehow they all made it out. My friend and his wife that worked at Moody's across the street, witnessed the jumpers, the second plane, the horror of it all. My friend from the second tower had made it out as the last passengers to come down the express elevator before burning jet fuel exploded into the lobby. Most of her fellow workers at Eurobrokers did not.
The towers where gone and I couldn't picture what it looked like before anymore. When I finally made it home that night, everything was covered in grey ash. I scooped some up and keep it in a small jar.
I was at Ground Zero the next morning. I've never seen any pictures in the media that do it justice. I remember someone asking me what that smell was. I got very angry because I knew too much, I knew the how's, why's, and who's, and will never forget.
I went to Breezy Point that night and fished, tryng to clear my mind from it all as I walked up and down the beach. I guess that spot is gone now too.
Nothing but memories now. Every 11th since I spend the morning alone by choice, out on the water. Just like today, fishing for peace of mind.