A Ground Zero Retrospective View for September 11, 2008
The Attacks on New York -- NEVER FORGET!
It was a day of madness and terror -- September 11, 2001.
It was a day of madness and terror -- September 11, 2001.
My husband and I have always loved New York City. I lived there with my ex-husband from 1962 to 1969. He lived near W. 181 Street and Wadsworth Avenue, in Washington Heights. He won a scholarship to Stuyvesant High School - which required a long daily commute down to the area where the World Trade Towers were eventually built.
My current husband's mother was born in Brooklyn. Although the family was based in Boston, both his mother and father had family in New York City. Many of his memories are of visiting with his aunt, uncle and first cousin in New York.
Over the years, we drove from Boston to NYC and stayed there for many vacations. Our pleasant visits included theater performances, great restaurants, and other enjoyable activities.
When 9/11/01 took place, we had moved from Boston to Portland, Oregon. I remember stirring in the bed when our radio alarm went off very early -- and I thought I was dreaming -- something about buildings burnings. I fell back to sleep.
But I learned an hour later that it was no dream -- I turned on the television set and saw Katie Couric, Matt Lauer, Peter Jennings, and later, CNN's Aaron Brown, telling the horrific story hour after hour.
What we saw made our blood run cold. I remember cleaning the house all day in a daze (I do that when I am stressed out). I watched TV. I made a bunch of telephone calls. My stepson in Boston, whose birthday is 9/11/58, is said to have been reduced to tears of raw emotion, and threatened to drive to New York just to help out.
In November 2001, we had preexisting plans to go to NYC. We were welcomed in the city with open arms. Of course, my husband insisted on going to the site to see what we could see.
My husband posted a slideshow for all to see: http://travel.webshots.com/slideshow/553610782HyiLnR
This series of photographs above blends a previous visit from 1999 with some views of the Towers as we experienced them in previous visits. There are also our photos from 2001, and the second link was of another visit we made in 2006.
If you have time, you are invited to view the two slideshows (above and also here):
http://travel.webshots.com/slideshow/551422106bbMuga
The controls are at the bottom -- your cursor activates the sequence and allows you to stop, pause, and choose a speed for viewing.
In peace,
Ellen
