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When the twin towers were hit 18 years ago
5 World Trade Center
On the “D” train on my way to the city.
In my high school AP psychology class. My teacher went to play a video for us to watch and for a moment we saw mayhem on the news. We didn’t know what that weird clip was all about so my teacher played the video, and then there was an announcement on the loud speaker. We had no idea that we had just watched what must have been live coverage for a moment. Unreal.
English class in 12th grade, 1st class of the day. Another kid and I had literally just finished ripping on the Arab world for the violence of the 2nd Intifada – I had been in Israel over the summer with NCSY Summer Kollel (this was the summer when the Sbarro bombing happened) – when the principal called an assembly to announce what had happened and dismiss school early.
School. Used to be able to see the twin towers on pcean parkway.
I was home with my kids and I heard that a plane hit the twin towers. My husband called from work to say that a plane flew into the world trade center. We weren’t sure if it was the same place or not. but meanwhile another plane hit and I was convinced moshiach was about to arrive so I called my rebbetzin and started crying that Moshiach was coming and I didn’t have enough zchusim yet. It was such a terrifying time, so I try to remind myself thru the years how fearful I was of being caught ‘shorthanded’ and not to allow myself to miss opportunities that come my way.
Probate Court in Connecticut, filing adoption and name change papers for a client. Court was suspended when the news came over the Judicial Marshal’s radio and the building ordered evacuated and closed.
The judge handed the baby to me and asked that Mrs. CTL and I assume temporary guardianship until government might return to normal. The adoptive parents were heartbroken, but after 10 days we were able to complete the adoption.At home.
In housing court. I was in college and the landlord wanted to evict us so that he could renovate the building. We eventually got like 6 months rent-free. When I came back to campus the following conversation took place:
Classmate: you know the Twin Towers? They’re gone.
Me: Gone?!
Classmate: GONE!111 John street
Middle of second seder in my Israeli yeshiva in Yerushalayim. My chavrusa got up for a minute, came back and told me. I thought he was joking so I insisted we keep on learning/batteling until another American walked by that I was sure knew. Reports were really erratic at first, which made things scarier. No one knew how many planes there were, what was hit, whether any were shot down. After seder the whole Yeshiva was made up of groups of guys huddled together talking in nervous whispers. I heard one English speaking Israeli repeat to his friends what he heard on the radio and ended his sentence in English, “both of the towers fell”.
I had took out my phone and for about 2 hours straight was just redialing my parents number until I got through and heard that Baruch Hashem they didn’t hear any bad news about anyone we knew or cared about. Later we learned that one relative who worked near Ground Zero was missing for about eight hours because he had to walk from Manhattan back home to New Jersey and couldn’t find a phone (cell phone service in NYC was suspended that day, and pay phones had hour long lines).
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