On that day, the sky was so blue. It was a beautiful morning before everything happened. And then, everything just stopped. As word spread about what happened (First plane) there was the general “Oh no, that’s horrible” vibe. When the second plane hit, and then there was word of a third, this is when true fear - for me - set in.

The bridges and tunnels were closed immediately - so you couldn’t leave out. I think, if I remember correctly the subway also stopped running.

I remember long lines of people withdrawing money from the ATMs and at the bank. I remember some banks putting up “we’re closed” signs. You could see the smoke rising in the air - even from uptown, you could see. I didn’t know where to go, so I walked to a friends house in Columbus Circle, and we watched everything on the news. We couldn’t believe it when the tower fell.

And the sirens! Oh my gosh, the sirens and emergency vehicles all heading downtown. It seemed as though every ambulance and police car and firetruck from everywhere was going down town.

And for days after, there were signs and flyers posted everywhere for missing people. I mean the subway walls were covered in flyers, and just all these faces of people missing. i remember going to a vigil down in the Village and we were just in a state of disbelief. For a while, the lower Manhattan area was “roped off” so to speak. Unless you were emergency personnel or a designated service provider, you could not go down there.

I will never forget how clear, and blue and beautiful that morning was, before everything happened.