Daily Phone Call

Date Submitted: 09/19/2002
Author Info: Charlotte (Manlius, NY - USA) 
Occupation: Homemaker
Lived in NY on 9.11.01?: No
Knew someone who perished?: No

I am a native Staten Islander, transplanted to Syracuse New York Area about 6 years ago. I still consider Staten Island my home. My entire family lives there and I have family and friends that live work in the City.

It is a ritual for me to call my mom when the kids get on the school bus around 8:30. My brother who lives with mom comes out yelling turn on the TV an airplane crashed into a tower… I turned on my TV as well. Still talking to my mom (who knew with the first hit it was terrorism) now of course about the crash we watched together in horror. My husband worked in the towers the last time they were bombed. Then the second plane hits I collapsed on the floor in tears. My mother was screaming… and we were trying to figure out who we knew and where would they be…It is like you go through this mental list of you entire family and friends and try to figure out I had to call my husband immediately even though he was here he knows many people that work in that area. While this is going on, I get a call from my husband who very calmy asks me to check flight schedules, his parent were on their way to California… one of the planes hijacked was on its way to California… his parents didn’t leave a flight number or anything. It was very possible they would leave from Newark instead of JFK…

It took some doing but we found out they were safe and sound and diverted to St. Louis.

The only other person who could have been anywere near that area would be my brother…We heard from him all was safe and sound all members of my family accounted for. So many lives lost, so many families ripped apart. It is just amazing.

My oldest brother lives in California and came out for a visit the end of August, 2001, so we did a huge NYC Sightseeing tour and actually took our children on the top of the trade center 2 weeks earlier. So to explain to the kids that they were gone now and all those people were killed was very hard.

God bless all the families! God bless the USA!

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