I live in Los Angeles, CA and we are 3 hours behind New York’s time, so I was sound asleep when the planes hit the twin towers at 8:46 a.m. (5:46 a.m.PST).

At 6:30 a.m. PST., I got up, washed myself, got dressed, turned on my small t.v. to ABC News and saw something I’ve never expected to see on a regular Tuesday morning. It showed two buildings that were on fire. To the left I saw the World Trade Center, the north tower burning, and to the right, the Pentagon in flames. When I saw the words: America Under Attack, I was shocked. Just as I was eating a bowl of cereal, I saw the North tower of the World Trade Center begin to collapse and my mouth dropped in disbelief. I was reminded of what happened in 1993 when the World Trade Center was first attacked. The carnage and horror of the current attack eclipsed those awful events nine years ago.

I was working in downtown Los Angeles on the 27th floor inside a 62-story high-rise building called the 707 Wilshire Tower (now called the AON Center), so it was dumbfounded of me to go to downtown L.A. during that time. When I reached my destination, the building was sealed off and alot of people were standing outside wondering what was going on. I heard tall blond woman, probably in her 40s asking a worker what the situation was. After he explained what happened, her mouth dropped and said, “Oh my God!!!” I crossed a street from the building and I heared from a man using a cell phone, mentioning that a plane was headed for L.A. I was worried. Will the terrorists attack downtown? It was then that I had to leave immediately. I got home by taking the Metro Red Line subway, as I alway do every day.

When I got home, my mother was already at work (as a nurse). My dad was watching t.v. and he was shocked and amazed by the way the World Trade Center was attacked. Throughout the day, we had the t.v. tuned to the coverage of the attacks, even as I went out for lunch at an Arby’s restaurant. I ordered Turkey, Ham & Swiss sandwich & Jamocha shake that day.

Madonna was scheduled to have a concert at Staples Center that evening but it was canceled.

That night, I couldn’t sleep. I was haunted by those horrifying visions of the twin towers falling and that night was eerie since I heard no cars, planes or aircraft flying at all.

When I came to work the following morning, I got on the elevator and headed up to the 27th floor. There was dead silence in the elevator. I’m sure what happened yesterday really sent jitters to every tenant here. I spent that day talking to every coworker about what happened the day before.