I know what's coming tomorrow, Facebook flooded with pictures of the Towers and American Flags. Everyone reminding everyone else to "Never Forget". As if I had a choice. I always remember
I always remember the first time I went up to the 99th Floor of the tower, pressed my face up to the glass and looked down below. So proud of the job I had achieved, so in awe of where I was standing and so in love with the view I looked down upon.
I will never forget watching them jump. Never. I think about the horror they were experiencing, where jumping to their death was a better option than the horrors that were happening right then and there. On the floor where we worked.
I always remember the elevator rides. Taking the express elevator - the speed in which it rushed us 2/3 of the way up the tower to the local elevators. I remember how the elevators used to shake when it was windy outside and how newbies would panic if it shook or slowed down. I remember how my mom, with her fear of elevators, decided not to brave the ride when she and dad came to visit my office. How right she was.
I will never forgot the elevators plummeting to the ground. People being trapped inside, the lucky few (like my former boss) that made it out alive, but most who fought a losing battle inside an elevator that was supposed to soar you to the sky, not drop you to your death.
I will always remember the skyline. I adored that skyline. Gill and I would be in the car, and I would see the towers from across the Hudson. As dorky as it was, I would always yell "Hi Work!" Every time. I just couldn't get enough of the towers, their powerful stance at the end of Manhattan, I loved them.
I will never forget the smoke. Watching from New Jersey as my beloved towers burned. I couldn't even see the remnants, all I could see was the smoke. I will never forget being grateful that it was rainy and foggy the night of our wedding. I had chosen that reception site because of the view, but only 2 weeks after that fateful day, I didn't want my guests spending the night looking at the burning graveyard of our destroyed skyline.
I will always remember the relationships that were formed there. A Jersey Girl and a Brooklyn Babe forged a lifelong friendship on the 99th Floor. We raced down the elevators every day to grab lunch, a french martini, or a few pairs of shoes before heading back up to our offices in the sky.
I will never forget that we are the lucky ones. So many of our friends and colleagues were not graced with the same fate. So many of them were there that morning, so many of them lost their lives. Perhaps we had guardian angels, perhaps it was fate, but I will never forget how blessed I am to be here. To have my husband, to have my children, to have my best friend - to have a future with all of them.
Tomorrow, don't worry that I've forgotten, because I always remember.
