I was 17 at the time. I was hanging out with the wrong crowd and was an accessory to a crime I was not involved in. But I ended up serving some hours of community service in the local community hall close to my house. I was cleaning banquet chairs, when the news broke out on several tv’s located throughout the hall. I was in disbelief. Did not know what to think or feel. I was in complete shock and utter dismay. How could this happen?

I was completely unsupervised and I was loyal, I was actually cleaning these old, fabric chairs to the best of my ability, but I became enthralled in the news stories that had unfolded. At first, no one was the wiser. It just seemed like an accident had happened and that it was sad those people had perished. But when the second plane hit the next tower, it became very surreal.

This is something I will never forget.