In the years I lived there, I had never really given the WTC complex much thought. When we did the tour, I was just as much a "tourist" as my friends.
It was really quite mind-blowing. Almost an entire city within the city. Those memories were fresh in my mind when I heard the news of the first plane hitting the North Tower on my car radio as I arrived at work. All I could think was "The people. All those people. OMG."
At work, everyone was gathered around a TV someone had set up and we witnessed the second plane hit. And then the news of the hijacking of flight 93. And then confirmation that Ed had booked a last minute flight on that plane. And then the pentagon news. It all unfolded so, so fast. The order of events at the office is sort of a blur.
One of our little group of tech writers lived less than five minutes away. Her husband was still at home and called her and a little group of us headed over there with her. We were glued to the TV as her husband filled us in on what had been reported in the few minutes before we got there. And then the shock of that first tower collapse while sitting in that living room. My mind was in this tape loop "The people. All those people..." as the horror and my image of the numbers lost expanded exponentially with the collapse.
Just as that horror sort of sank in, and we were all sort of processing it. It seemed like everyone was acquainted with someone who worked or frequently did business at the WTC. And then the news of flight 93. There were vague hopes that maybe Ed had missed the flight, but I think we knew if he had we would have heard by then. That period between the collapse of the first and second building is vague too. But the shock of the collapse of the second building is as burned in my mind as the shock of seeing the first. And the tape loop in my head continued. "OMG. Ed. OMG. All those people. The people...."
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