9/12/01
A Sad Day
For those who have been following this web site, you probably know
that I live in NYC, and travel out of town to work on my Ferrari. On September
11th, 2001, I got up early to get a day of work in on the Ferrari. This
begins with a short walk to my parking garage located on the east side
of Manhattan in the 20s. As I walked to my Toyota, I noticed an inordinate
amount of police activity heading south. A "Hi-Rise Unit" among the emergency
vehicles made me look towards the sky where a plume of smoke could be seen
rising in the distance. As I got to First Avenue, I could just make out
the source of the smoke, and fellow New Yorkers were gathered looking at
the smoke. Asking a what was on fire, two construction workers told me
the World Trade Center had been hit by a plane! I walked another block
south, and I could clearly see the smoke coming out of the WTC. I took
my digital camera out and took this picture, not realizing the severity
of the situation.
Feeling there was nothing I could do, I got in my car and drove north.
As I turned on the radio, I listened to the tragic events unfold. Within
minutes of driving out of the city, I became aware that I would not be
able to return. All of Manhattan was locked down. As I got to François'
house, I ran in to see the pictures of the horrible events I'd been hearing
about during the whole drive up. Phone communications was all but dead
going into NYC from cell phones to land lines. We watched in disbelief.
Since I was helpless and stranded in CT, I decided there was nothing
for me to do but go and work on my car. The irony was how good it felt
to have something to do to occupy my time, but how absolutely useless it
felt to restore a car in tragic times like these.
I have managed to get back to my home 28 hours after the initial attack,
and now am left to wait and receive news about the survivors. My thoughts
are with everyone involved. The pain is so deep.
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