| Author |
Message |
Jim Flynt (Jimflynt)
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 25, 2001 - 1:40 pm: | |
(Reprinted from The Rogak Report by Larry Rogak)
"I have something special -- and exclusive -- for you today. It's a letter from a World Trade Center survivor. It took my breath away." (Larry Rogak)
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"This was written by "Stacy," who prefers to remain otherwise anonymous. I thank her for permission to reprint this.
On September 11, 2001, I awoke at 6:00 AM to get ready for a normal work day. I made coffee, showered, dried my hair, and got my husband ready for work by helping to pick out his clothes. We like to eat fruit in the morning so I picked for him an apple and orange, placed them in a lunch bag, kissed him good-bye, and promised to call him later at the office. I then proceeded to get dressed, feed our kittens, lock the door, and drive to work. Just a normal day so far.
At 8:34 AM, my hubby E-mailed me regarding a house he had seen advertised in the local paper. We've been looking to purchase our first home, and he was excited about this particular house... location, price, etc. I promised to call the owner and set up an appointment. Just a normal day so far, with a little excitement about the house.
At 8:56 AM, my dad called me at the office, asking if Rob (my hubby), had
gone to work today. I said yes, and that's when Dad told me that the World Trade Center had been struck by a plane. I immediately asked "which building?" You see, Rob worked in Tower One on the 73rd floor.
I hung up with Dad and frantically dialed Rob's number. I got a busy signal. I panicked, ran to my secretary and started crying and screaming. I could barely get out the words that my husband was in the building. A colleague put on the radio, just in time for me to hear that Tower Two had been struck. I am a school counselor in a high school, and thankfully had my colleagues with me, but I could not keep calm. What I was experiencing was sheer terror. I was also concerned that my students would see and hear me hysterical.
At 9:15 AM my mother calls, who works only 5 minutes away. She asks me if I've heard anything, and between the sobs I tell her "no." She hangs up and comes up to school to be with me. Six other people call me... Rob's dad, his mother, brother, my aunt, my brother, and best friend. I have no news for them. I don't know where he is. I don't know if he's dead.
The radio reports tell of a devastating sight. They're not sure if ANYONE got out alive. I'm violently shaking, I cannot piece a sentence together, I'm staring at the phone, trying to make it ring with my mind. I tell my mother that it's not supposed to be this way, that we've only been married for 9 months, that I'm 27 years old and we want to have babies. That my beautiful wonderful sweet husband cannot possibly be dead. That a terrorist cannot ruin my life this way. I say that if he's gone that I will have nothing to bury, no cemetery to visit him, no coffin. My mother cries, tells me to have faith, my colleagues are praying with me.
I go outside to get some air, my secretary watches the phone. My mother and colleagues are holding my hands as I try to breathe and stay calm. At 10:28 AM, I hear my supervisor calling my name, yelling that Robert is alive, that he's on the phone. I run at lightening speed up the stairs, I grab the phone, I hear his voice, I collapse on the floor. "I'M ALIVE!" he says. He's crying. He's in a restaurant in Little Italy. The owner of the restaurant and his wife gave Rob the phone, a hug, and a few glasses of wine. The adrenaline in my body is indescribable at this point. I think of my students, there are many with missing loved ones. I go to them. We cry together.
At 3:30 PM I go home. Rob is there; he just got home. We hold each other. Everything is OK, or is it? Thousands gone, the images are embroiled in his mind of the dead and injured that he saw. He was able to escape Tower One in 62 minutes, only to witness the collapse of Tower Two. He was almost crushed by debris. It's a miracle he wasn't.
Any questions I had about miracles have been clarified. We were lucky. Many were not.
It's 13 days later. We haven't really slept. Nightmares plague us. But Rob is alive. He is safe. Others were not as fortunate. My heart aches for the families of the missing, the deceased. I cannot imagine what they are going through at this moment. They are all in our hearts, our prayers.
Through all of this I have watched as our nation gathers in tears, patriotism, love, and faith. I have had a life lesson on what's really important. It's not clothes, appearance, money, Britney Spear's outfit, or what kind of car you drive. Love, life, liberty, and happiness is all that matters. They had it right when our forefathers wrote the Constitution. How right they were.
At 27 years old, my cynicism about human beings is diminishing. I have faith in my government and in God. I pray that we can resume a normal life, but it will take time. Right now we are all mourning, but we will prevail. I love my country, I want to see justice but not vengeance, I am brought to tears whenever I see an American flag. To all of you who are in fear of what's next, God Bless You. Terror has bruised us, but it will not ruin us. United we stand.
Love, Stacy
Wife of a Survivor
Thanks, Stacy." |
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