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Around 8:45 this morning I was driving to work when the
news of the attack hit the air. I was traveling south along
the Hudson River and I could see the plume of smoke roughly
30 miles to the south. A short time later the news of a
second attack hit the air. The rest of the morning was
consumed by many frustrating attempts to locate family &
friends by phone, over networks that worked less than 10%
of the time. No one I know got killed, although there were
2 people in downtown NYC; 1 actually made her way out
of building 1, another saw both buildings fall. There are
still a few who I have yet to hear from. Some are firemen,
policemen and emergency services people I know, some of
these are fellow officials. My aunt, a tough 69 year old
New Yorker, works in midtown part time. I tried to call her
when I first heard the news to warn her but she was already
out of the house. I later learned from my mother that she
was aware of the attack when she left for the subway, but
she was damned if anything was going to keep her out of the
city. We have heard from her, she's still stuck somewhere
in midtown. She'll get home, transit strikes & snow storms have given her plenty of practice in making her way out. My
story is by no means unique, many have a much sadder and
horrible versions. Please, sometime this week, arrange to
donate some blood.
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