i remember...

the day they opened the viewing in NYC, Thanksgiving weekend 2001

ground zero... hauling out rubble. still smoking.

ground zero.

saying "thank you" to one of the firemen.

i remember... being woken up too early by my mom and being so annoyed that she forgot the time change. and even more annoyed that she just called to tell me dad was in arizona. (he had been working at the world trade center)

i remember... her telling me that a plane had hit one of the wtc buildings.

i remember... going to work downtown chicago that day (a block over from the john hancock), and hearing someone talk about TWO planes.

i remember... thinking they were crazy and that could NEVER happen.

i remember... getting off the "l" and feeling like it was 5pm, there were SO MANY people rushing back on the train. and thinking that was weird.

i remember... getting to work and hearing that the crazies on the train were right. two planes HAD hit.

i remember... watching. being captivated. not being able to tear my eyes away.

i remember... having to stop at a shop in the loop, and it was the ONLY store open. and thinking what a ghost town chicago was.

i remember... going to lake michigan to take pictures of the city.

i remember... classes being cancelled that night.

i remember... season premieres being delayed. (and how the clips of nyc in friends were so different!)

i remember... talking to my dad about his stuff, his office.

i remember... taking that first flight to nyc for thanksgiving. and getting interviewed on tv, having come from another big city.

i remember... seeing ground zero for the first (and only) time. and being so moved.

i remember... driving to our cousins' in connecticut and seeing the lanterns lit, WAITING for loved ones to come home.

i remember... dad walking into the dry cleaning place (first time he had been back to nyc, too), and how happy they were that another person was alive! (the place was across the street from where the first pic was taken)

i remember... feeling patriotic and wanting to do SOMETHING. (a fact my mom reminded me of when i decided to join the navy)