19 years ago my co-workers and I watched in abject horror from the 46th floor of 55 Water St. as planes crashed in to the North & South Towers. We all exited our building to find a mass of humanity on the streets. Everyone had fled their offices, shops, stations and were moving away from lower Manhattan. Coming in the opposite direction were scores of Firemen, Police, and First Responders.
We continued walking away, occasionally glancing over our shoulders at the horror unfolding before us. The Smoke. The Fire. The People. As we approached 1 Police Plaza, we heard a sound I’ll never forget. It was the sound of steel buckling amongst concrete and human lives. We collectively turned and saw the South Tower collapsing. We ran as fast as we could away from the area but my thoughts were of the people in that building and the people that had raced towards it.
I walked to Grand Central and found it had been shut down. Much like everything else in the city, and in fact as we later found out, in the country. So I strived to walk all the way home to Tarrytown if I had to. But there were Metro-North trains running from Harlem so I boarded one and it was eerily quiet. I even saw people that were covered in soot occupying seats. The ride was quiet, no tickets were taken, no conductors walking the aisle. Just everyone staring in to oblivion trying to grasp what had happened. What we had seen. And whats going to happen next.
I finally got home and turned on the news to see the horrifying videos of what had transpired and what was happening. I knew then that nothing would ever be the same again. Nothing would ever be “normal” again. I cried that day unlike any other day I ever had.
I cried over the friends and former colleagues I lost at Marsh & McLennan. And I cried about all the other souls lost that day. But I also acknowledged the reverence, bravery & sacrifice of those who went to help their fellow human beings. You see the Best often times during the Worst times.
So I reflect, as many do, on this day of those lost. The lost potential. The lost accomplishments. The lost dreams I put aside all petty items, all issues, anything that really does not have a place today. And I always hope on this day that we are better as a City, as a Nation, as a World.
And I hope every year on this Day, that we are. And I’ll never stop believing it.
Nit's Wit 