"Yowie" wrote in message
...
8 years ago, I can still vividly remember Joel waking me up at about
11:15pm saying 'A bomb hit New York'. Wearily, I stumbled out to the lounge
to watch the coverage, thinking it was some sort of stunt, a joke, a sci-fi
movie. We watched in increasing horror as the second plane hit the other
world tower, and by the time the next plane had hit the pentagon, we were
both thinking 'here comes world war 3'.

We stayed up most of the night, watching in horror, disbelief and open
grief whilst the tragedy that struck New York, Washington, America, indeed
the World unfolded. My thoughts went out to all those in the line of fire,
all those who would be affected by this.

My heart skipped a beat when I realised my mother was overseas, on
holiday, unreachable (in the days ahead I paid a small fortune in phone
calls trying to track her down - I found her in France). And then another
as I realised a great friend was actually in the air, flying back from
Sydney to NY at the time (she was diverted to LA and couldn't get home -
nor even call her husband - for 3 more days) .

Everyone stumbled into work the next day, sleepless, shocked. People
desperately tried to contact their loved ones not only in the USA but
around the world. Work allowed the use of the busines phones to do it,
they didn't really have a choice - although most of the lines were down
and the ones that weren't were so overload, it could take *hours* to get
through to a US operator, and even then it didn't mean the call could go
through. There was a constant vigil of at least a handful of people in the
conference room, watchign the only TV we have here, coming out after a
while white and shaken, no longer physically able to watch any more. For
the first time, I saw my colleagues, both men & women, openly weep.

Friends gathered to console and support each other - everyone, and I mean
*everyone* I know, knew someone who knew someone that was directly
effected.

The internet connections were flakey at best, but messages of support and
friendship were posted, as well as a 'please check in' for those who had
been disconnected. It took a very long time, even over here, for it to
stop being at the top of people's minds. Even a month later, I saw a
low-flying jet and immediately had flash-backs, had a moment stricken with
fear. I hadn't realised I was so close to the airport.

8 years on, its no longer front page news every day, but the consequences
of that senseless act still reverberate around the world, effecting lives
every day, every minute. To all those who live with the heartache and
grief of that terrible day, as well as the incredible acts of heroism and
sacrifice, you have not been forgotten. Our purrs and prayers go out to
you..

lest we forget.

Yowie


Thank you very much for posting this. I'm sitting here in tears. I hope
you don't mind if I tack on some personal thoughts and experiences.

The company I worked for lost 295 colleagues on that day, 30 of whom I knew
and had worked with personally. Our company had been purchased by Marsh &
McClennan, whose offices were on the 99th floor of the north tower. Those
30 people had been transferred to NY (our former I.T. Director, Gary Lasko,
was commuting to and from Memphis weekly). They were in the north tower
that morning. The first plane flew directly into Gary's office; no trace of
him was ever found.

As soon as we heard the news the people in I.T. in Memphis swung into
action. All of the video screens in the every conference room were quickly
linked to satellite so we could see what was going on. People around me
were getting text messages on their pagers from colleagues who were trapped
on the 99th floor. "Please call my wife" or "Tell everyone I'm okay." Many
people were "hearing" what was going on inside the building that way.

I remember standing at the back of the conference room, watching the events
unfold, shocked, dismayed. People were weeping. I did telephone tech
support for the company at the time. I heard a manager behind me say,
"Someone should be manning the phones on the help desk." I was so shocked
for a minute I couldn't speak. I said, "You actually think people are going
to be calling about our software right now?!" I couldn't fathom it.
Needless to say, no one moved. No one cared about the phones. Just a
minute later a woman next to me said, "Is that building shaking?" and then
the first of the towers fell. I'll never forget it.

Somewhere in the midst of all the confusion we heard about the plane that
hit the Pentagon. And about flight 93 going down in Pennsylvania. We will
never forget any of the brave souls on that plane who prevented yet another
disaster. Nor any of the thousands who lost their lives so senselessly on
that morning.

An aside: I have a dear friend (Ian) who used to be the head of Human
Resources in our Memphis office. His train was running late that morning.
He and about 12 other people had just gotten on the elevator when the first
plane hit. The elevator didn't go anywhere. They were stuck for over an
hour, not having a clue what was going on outside. Just as suddenly the
elevator doors opened on their own. What these people saw stunned them.
The lobby was littered with debris and filled with firefighters, who quickly
ushered them out of the building.

Ian made his way to a train station many blocks away and headed back to his
home in Connecticut. He was shell-shocked. He was unable to get through to
his daughters to let them know he was okay. As you can imagine, it was an
unbelievably long train ride home.

He never went back to NYC. He moved to Savannah in the next few weeks. We
kept in touch via email and on the phone. We always talked about meeting in
Savannah for a "cuppa". Ironically, just as I moved within 60 miles of him
to help my mother he moved back to his native England. We never did get
together for that "cuppa".

Jill