I was living in Cali at the team and my boyfriend (at the time) loved in NJ. He had a long commute to Philly every morning and would call me during it, even though it was 5am my time. I had the KTLA morning show on in the background and we chatted happily away. In the time that he parked his car and walked into the building, the network cut in with breaking news. I was "on hold" waiting for him by the time he got to his office to tell him; since I knew his uncle worked in the WTC complex.
I switched over to NBC and Tom Brokaw. I will never forget how unsettling it was to watch him as he witnessed the second plane hit. The disbelief and quiver in his voice made me realize that everything changed in that moment.
The day was filled with phone calls.I grew up in Boston and had many friends in NYC ,DC and NJ. Thankfully, my boyfriend 's uncle was ok, but several other of my friends had family members and good friends who perished that day. The worse was my friend who lost her cousin, his wife and their two and half year old daughter, Christine Lee, on the first plane. She was the youngest victim of the day and was flying to see her gramdma and Mickey Mouse at Disneyland. Another friend's dad worked for the dept of defense and he was taken into a secure bunker for a strategical mtg, before the second plane even hit. My friend was distraught all day.
I never felt so disconnected from my roots. So many people were leaving the big cities after 9/11, but I felt I need to be back on the east coast. Two weeks later, my boyfriend asked me to move to be with him, and within a month, I started the total surreal experience of driving across the country post 9/11. The tributes and anger that was displayed as I drove were touching and sombering and it was magnified as I got closer to the City.
I moved into an area where EVERYONE was personally touched. They were still living the nightmare. Towns in northern NJ lost dozens of people. Recovery operations were being staffed by members of fire and police from here. There was a gaping hole in the skyline and it was still smoldering. You could hear the jetfighters fly overhead from the local bases. The eerie sound of the recovery efforts echoed for blocks through the City when I visited there.
I don't know how to explain it. It is still pretty raw for a lot of people here. And people are still dying from respiratory issues that occured during the rescue. My friend's brother was a NYPD firefighter and died last year , as another victim of 9.11. There is still an unease. It didn't change our way of life, but it altered it...if that makes sense. That sense of innocence is gone.
