Sept 11 started out as any other say for me. I was excited my Aunt was expected to arrive from Newark on a Delta Flight. She was suppose to leave at 8:45am from Newark Airport. I went to work,got my breakfast and came back to my desk aroung 8:40. My co-worker behind said ‘Hey Gina, a plane just hit the WTC’. I said get out of here, I rolled around in my chair to his desk and he has CNN.Com on with the live pictures are the 1st plane hit. I said ‘Oh My God!’ Do they know if it is a jet or a smaller plane? At that point it came over the radio a Jet had hit the WTC, but they didnt know what airline it was. I called my parents to tell them and my mom broke out in tears because her sister was on a plane comming down to Fl, at that very time. My dad was walking the dog so he had no clue but when he came back upstairs he almost died when he put on the news. I was still on the phone with my mom as I heard my father (a true New Yorker) yell SON OF A BITCH! Being a retired airline employee he immediately new this was no accident. They got in the car and rushed down to Fort Lauderdale Airport to see what they could find out on my aunts flight.

I was able to leave work early on that day to go home and wait by the phone. As I was driving home I heard about the planes hitting the Pentagon and United Flt 93 in PA. I thought oh my god planes are just dropping out of the air. When I got home around 11am my mom and dad were stuck down at Fort Lauderdale Airport and we still heard nothing from my aunt. Finally around 12:30pm the phone rang it was my aunt she was safe and diverted to NC, where she would spend her 5 day vacation since no planes were going out. My aunt left from Newark @ 8:45am and United Flt 93 left just ahead of them from the terminal right next to Delta. My aunt was very close to the terrorists and the doomed flight. As they took off from Newark they saw the smoke from the WTC but the pilot didnt say anything untill all flight were forced to land. I finally went back to NYC Jan. 2002 and went to Ground Zero. It was very heartbreaking to see an empty hole, were once 2 beautilful towers stood. It broke my heart to hear my cousins frined taking us down to Ground Zero, a man who drives in NYC all the time say “I dont know what direction I am going without the towers.”

It hit even closer to home finding out the ring leader in the attacks was from my home town city of Coral Springs, and he rented an Apt just right aroung the corner from us. He could have been anyone I saw at the grocery store or passed by on the road. God Bless America and all the victims and families of 9/11