10 Years Ago Today...

...I had just rolled out of bed on Tuesday morning.  I had a chem discussion at 10:30 so I got to sleep in a little bit, so I woke up just before 9AM.  I came downstairs and Mom had told me that the first tower had been hit.  We both thought that it was probably some small Cessna pilot lost control.  About 5 minutes later, the 2nd tower was hit.  I didn't see it live because I was in the bathroom, and Mom was cleaning upstairs.  At that point we both realized this was no accident.  Mom tried to convince me not to go to school because she didn't know what was going on.  I told her that it was OK.  The University of Maryland would not close and I didn't want to miss my chem class, or math class right after that.  After all, I was just a green freshman still trying to make a good first impression.  It wouldn't look good to the professors if I was cutting class 2 weeks into the semester. 

Then the Pentagon was hit, and I wizened up. 

Mom immediately called my Dad, who worked in Vienna, VA at the time, but like most people in the country, the cell phones jammed.  She didn't panic.  I just glued myself to the TV as we both watched the towers collapse, one after the other.  Meanwhile, we followed along as the reports came in of yet another hijacked plane that was still off the grid, even after the FAA grounded all flights.  Then we heard of the crash in Shanksville.  It was all surreal.  Mom finally got a hold of Dad and he told us he was coming home immediately.  Both my brother and sister's schools closed early as the news broke. 



From silive.com

 When my Dad got home, he called my grandparents, who live in Carmel, NY, about 1 hour north of New York City.  Everybody was OK, but there, but my Dad's cousin Jerry Barbara, who was a fire chief for FDNY was right in the thick of Ground Zero.  Jerry had called his wife after the South Tower had collapsed to let her know she was OK.  However, that was the last communication he sent.  We don't know exactly what happened, but evidence points to Jerry passing away when the North Tower collapsed 22 minutes after the South Tower. 

I had met Jerry once, at my grandparents' 50th anniversary in 1995.  Like most of my Dad's relatives, he was a proud New Yorker, a well-decorated firefighter, and a huge Yankee fan.  He was on the inspection team that worked on Yankee Stadium after a 500 pound piece of concrete fell in 1998, and it was the thrill of his life.  He lived on Staten Island and grew up in Brooklyn with the rest of my Dad's family.  Today, the Staten Island Yankees of the New York Penn League, honor Jerry with "Chief Barbara Night" in August around his birthday. 

Where were you when the events of 10 years ago today unfolded?