I was born in New York City. It’s my home city. In the 1990’s I moved to Virginia, where I served as an Active Duty Intelligence Analyst for the Defense POW/MIA Office. On the morning of September 11, 2001 my then husband was bringing our 2 year old son to day care in Arlington Virginia. He wondered at the rising black wall of smoke over the trees to the West; At the school, he was directed to ‘Go Home’.. Nothing else was said. No one knew what to say.
In lower Manhattan, at the same time, my younger brother, Steven, ran with a crowd of other suited men, and women in dresses and heels - over the Brooklyn Bridge . He was a a stock broker on the floor of the NY Stock Exchange for 25 years; when suddenly that sunny September morning a man appeared in the galley and yelled at all the brokers.. “RUN!” “RUN FOR YOUR LIVES”.. When they ran out of the building, the skies were black with acrid smoke; My brother thought WWIII had already started. He lost everything after that day, except, his life. Others were not as lucky.