Sept. 11th, 2001 - My Story

I have rarely spoken about the events from 10 years ago. I can't believe its been that long. It seems so long ago and yet it just seems like it was yesterday. Maybe its because the events of that day are so ingrained in my mind. Maybe I really want to forget, or better yet, I don't want to believe what happened on that day. But for better or worse, that day is part of American history. Its part of the World history. It's part of my history.

In my 20's, I used to visit New York City at least twice a year, every year. I would go for extended weekend trips. The trips served three purposes. One, I would go see as many Broadway shows as I could. I would see one show on Thursday & Friday, two shows on Saturday and Sunday and maybe one more show on Monday before heading back home on Tuesday. Over the span of 5 to 6 years, I saw so many great performances in some great shows. I saw Ricky Martin in Les Miz. I saw Lea Salonga in Miss Saigon. I saw Carol Burnett in Moon Over Buffalo. I saw Julie Andrews in Victor, Victoria. I saw Betty Buckley in Sunset Boulevard. The list goes on and on. What can I say, I'm a Broadway Baby at heart.

Secondly, I would go to enjoy the Gay New York scene. I think its fair to say that New York in the 90's was an exciting time for a visiting 20-something year old gay man. There were so many bars and clubs to choose from. The gay scene in Chicago could not compare to that of New York's. I would go to my favorite gay clubs, grab a drink, hit the dance floor and dance all night long. That's what made me happy: the dancing. I would just listen for a great song, feel the beat of the song and I would just dance, dance, dance. It was especially fun since I would go alone, by myself. I didn't travel with friends that much because it would just be a different 'vide'. I could dance all night long, by myself, and not care about who was watching me. Plus, I was a great dancer. Actually, I'm still a good dancer. I still 'bust a move' maybe once a year at some wedding. Spending the night in a gay bar in New York, dancing all night long was My Paradise.

Thirdly, I would just go to New York to just get away. I would take in all the different sights of New York. The shopping, the arts, the museums, the opera, the tourist spots, the dining. I could get away to NYC very quickly. Just hope on a plane, find a hotel and then hit the road running. I would walk thru Central Park, hang out in Battery Park, ride the Staten Island ferry. And I would visit the World Trade Center.

In the mid 90's, I started dating my current boyfriend. And I stop going to New York. We would take trips to other cities and places. He really was not excited about visiting New York. He said he would probably would not like Manhattan: the noise, the crowds, the dirty city. Well, after a few years I said we needed to visit New York just once. If he liked the trip, good for me. If he did not, then we probably would not go back.

So planning this trip went into high gear. We planned on visiting New York starting on Thursday, Sept. 13th. We bought tickets for a few Broadway shows. We looked into some restaurants that we wanted to dine at. We planned a trip to Hoboken, New Jersey to see the birthplace of Frank Sinatra. We wanted to attend the Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy. And we planned on having breakfast at Windows on the World before taking the ferry boats to Ellis Island and Liberty Island. Windows on the World was located on the 106th and 107th floors of the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

On the morning of September 11th, I decided to go to work late because I wanted to go to the Illinois State Center to renew my driver's license for my upcoming trip. The DMV center is located in the lower level of the Illinois State Center. Basically, the basement of the building. So at 9am, I am waiting line with other people who are renewing their id's and licenses. Music is playing in the back-ground. The station we're listening to is LITE-FM Chicago. And like any other day at the DMV, the lines are long and slow. Around 9:45 am, I'm almost to the front the line. I should be the next customer in a few minutes.

All of a sudden, the music stopped playing in the center. I started to notice all the workers behind the counters. They started to grouping together and talking among themselves. I kinda felt something was up. I was called up to a window. The agent quickly reviewed my paperwork and everything was in order. I paid the renewal fee and waited to get my picture taken and get my new license. As I sat and waited, I noticed a hush in the room. Usually, the DMV is one the loudest places one can visit. But that was not the case this day.

I happened to have my Sony Walk-Man cassette player with me. I tired getting a radio signal on it, but because we were located deep in the lower levels of the building, I could not. Then I started hearing from the other people in line that a major accident had happened in New York. That a plane had crashed into a building. That's all I knew at the time. About 15 minutes later, I had my new license and I left the Illinois State Center and I started to head to work.

As I got to the street level, I knew something serious was going on. I could tell people were walking and moving in an frantic pace. Not your typical 'I'm rushing to get to work' mood. I turned on my Walk-Man player and quickly found a radio station. I then heard that a second plane had crashed in New York. This time I learned that the planes had crashed into both towers of the World Trade Center. I then heard that a third plane had crashed in the Pentagon and that a fourth plane was high-jacked and was missing. As I stood in Downtown Chicago listening to the news on the radio I turned my attention to the tallest building located Downtown. The 108th story tall Sears Tower building.

I started moving to an elevated 'EL' train station. It should only be about a 15 minute train ride to my job. I needed to get to my job fast so that I could call my mother at her job. My mother worked at a school for the Chicago Board of Education. I needed to know where my mother and sister were located. I needed to make sure that they were OK. I started to feel sick. I could not believe what I was hearing on the news. When I got to work, everyone was listening to the news on the radio. I quickly called my mother and she was still at work. She said she had not heard from Headquarters if the schools were being closed and sending students home. I told her to let me know her every move. I told her I would be at work until something changed.

My office was located in a warehouse district with many factories. Across the street was another factory. The owner of that business called our office and told us if we wanted to watch the news on TV, we could go over to watch. So I went over with three other co-workers. We went into the owner's office and started watching the news unfold on TV. That's when I saw the live footage of the collapse of the World Trade Center. That's when I went numb and I can't remember what happened next.

We know what happened after that day. Airports were shut-down. No flights were allowed anywhere. The whole world had gone numb. Everyone was glued to their TVs for days. Life had come to a stand-still. Of course, my vacation plans for New York were cancelled. I was hoping things would change in a few days, but that was not the case. I felt angry that my vacation was 'cancelled'. I still wanted to go to New York. As if nothing had happened. I was in bad frame of mind. I really could not take in what had happened. I thought everything would still be up and running in New York. Instead, everything in New York, and much of the world, had stopped.

As the weekend approached, my boyfriend decided maybe we should take a weekend trip to near-by Milwaukee, just to get away from the news and sadness and non-stop news coverage. Looking back, I really appreciated that. I knew it was something that would help us 'move on'.

On the 1st anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks, I went to New York on my own. I actually went Labor Day weekend of 2002. I went to some Broadway shows. I ate at new places. And I went to 'Ground Zero', the site were the World Trade Center once stood. I won't go into details about I how I felt that day. Those are my personal, private feelings and I don't want to be-little my feelings or those of anyone else. At least, not now. Maybe in another 10 years. Maybe never. I have not been to New York since that 2002 trip. I don't know if its painful. I don't know if its emotional. Maybe its because New York seems different to me now. I almost planned a quick last-minute trip to New York this weekend, but I decided against it. But I do feel that a New York trip is due. Hopefully I can make that trip sooner than later.


Back in 2007, I made a video montage as a reminder of what happened 10 years ago. It's a tribute to the New York I knew. The New York I fell in love with. I've attached the video below. If the audio works, you will hear the Green Day song 'When September Ends'. If not, then You Tube might have an issue with the copyright of the song.





Thank you for reading my story. Never Forget.

John