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Every Day I Relive The September 11, 2001 Terror Attacks (By Wendie Jo Malick) (Part One) by Karen Lynn Vidra, The Texas Tornado
Saturday, March 13, 2004
Rated "PG13" by the Author.
A woman who narrowly escaped death in the terrorist attacks in New York City reflects on her feelings regarding the event; and she also writes about the terrorist attack in Spain just a few days ago.
It seems like every day it is the same goddamn dream, a dream that I can't seem to wake up from; and every day I am only reminded of what happened to me nearly three years ago. What happened only two days ago in Spain does nothing to help matters any, and it is only reopening new wounds that still burn deep in my body and in my psyche. It is a fresh slap in the face, and once again, I am tormented with the images and nightmares of that day.
I will never forget that day (September 11, 2001) as long as I shall live. I used to work at the Twin Towers in New York City, and as I remember this, I remember it was a pristine, perfect late summer day with a hint of autumn in the air. The sky was blue and cloudless; the sun shone brightly, and there was absolutely no warning what was to take place as my co-worker and friend, M'Kaya Mnjama, and myself went across the street to have a cup of java and a bagel during our break from work. We had exited the building about 8:30, and we had gone across the street to get our java and our bagels; and we were both talking about plans we were in the process of making and joking and fooling around, aas best friends often do, when a very loud and low roar caused us to look backwards. What we saw will always be forever etched on my (and probably M'Kaya's) mind. We saw a huge jet plane flying low, and...it flew into the one tower in a huge fireball. The sound from the explosion shook the ground, and I don't know what happened, but whatever it was it was something major, and it was also something very bad.
M'Kaya screamed, "Oh, JESUS!" and she grabbed me and hoisted me over her shoulders and half ran, half walked, carrying me (I am physically disabled; I have spina bifida) away from the area, not thinking of her own health problems (she has multiple sclerosis, but back then it wasn't very bad). We were both scared to death, and we were wondering why a plane would fly into such a big building like the Twin Tower unless it was an accident or....perhaps, it was something worse??
It ended up that things went from bad to worse that day. It ended up that a second plane flew into the second tower (by then, the first one was ablaze), and we knew that it was a terrorist attack; but who was responsible was still up in the air. People were screaming or crying as they started fleeing for their very lives; and soon, ambulances, firetrucks, and police cruisers covered the streets; and the emergency personnel were telling us to get the hell on out of there, as they were trying to reach the injured and dying in the two burning buildings.
As soon as I heard that on the news (we were watching events unfold on tvs near the bagel stand; there was a newspaper stand there, and they had a tv going, and it was covering the event, live, as it happened, and they were saying it was a terrorist attack), I started crying, and M'Kaya took me to my house and then said she was leaving and going to her mother's in Tennessee; and she told me to take care of myself, that she would call as soon as she got to her mother's house in Nashville. That was when I noticed that her leg was bleeding badly.
*To be continued.
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Reviewed by Simon Thurlow
3/18/2004
The nightmares never leave. So many serviceman are now also reliving horrors such as these as a result of Sept 11. When will it end ?
Good terror story Karen, it has only begun. The world will be this way for quite sometime. I'm just glad we live in a more secure society. love fr bm G
((((Karen))))
What a heartwrenching story...
P.S. Sorry i had to hurry off on you earlier I am at the library now waiting for the meeting to start...
God Bless
~Michelle~
