by Dan O'Neill.
I was in a sabbatical from my teaching job. On the Tuesday morning of September 11th I was planning to go into Manhattan from my Amityville, Long Island, home via the Long Island Railroad. We have a small TV in the kitchen that was tuned to a news channel. All of a sudden my wife called out that there was something weird on the TV. She at first thought it was a disaster movie clip. Just as I came over to the TV the second airplane crashed into the second tower.
At first we thought a small plane had accidentally hit one of the buildings. As the reality emerged we had great difficulty grasping the horror we were witnessing. Anger and worry and fear became primary emotions.
Our daughter's boyfriend at the time worked in Tower Two. We learned later that the alarms went off and he began the trek down the stairs (not really knowing much). An announcement came that it was okay to go back to the offices! He did not! He continued down and when he got outside the second plane hit. As he ran toward West Street, “stuff” was flying through the air and landing all around.
When he got to West Street a couple in a car stopped and picked him up. They were headed for Long Island and just kept driving, and got out of Manhattan before it was locked down. They dropped him off at the Long Island Expressway and Route 110. He called me! I went and got him home safely.
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