Reply #64: Driving to a client's office, the ABC radio news at 9am told of... [View All]

...a plane hitting the WTC. My very first thought was of the B-25 crash into the Empire State Building in 1945. By the time the 6 minute news segment was over, they broke in with the report of the second plane. My very first thought after that was, "shit - this CAN'T be an accident!!!"

I turned around and headed home (called the client to tell them I was going to be late), turned on the both the TV and the VCR (to record the event). I was watching MSNBC and Jim Miklaszewski reported live from the Pentagon that there was "an explosion - the windows rattled." From that point on, the news was fast and furious - car bomb outside the state dept, airliners grounded, overseas flights diverted to Canada. And then, live on TV, I saw a 110 story building collapse. Thoughts of my visit to NYC (in my boat via the Hudson River from Albany) only 2 weeks before were filling my mind. How we sat in the middle of NY harbor right in front of the WTC and smoked a joint. Here's a pic taken that day, 08/26/01:


When the North Tower fell, so did I - to my knees in the middle of my living room. I pounded the floor in anger, in disbelief.

To be honest, the rest of the day was a blur. I canceled my appt with my client, sat on the couch, smoked a joint and stared at the TV for a week...