I Rememeber 9/11

I remember 9/11 like it was yesterday.

I remember I was working on the the seating chart for James Coviello's fashion show which was the next day.

I remember a model telling one of the designers about the planes just as my phone rang and James told me about the planes and I looked down at my computer and the photos were on CNN.com.

I remember a few moments later walking up 7th Avenue towards James office. The streets were jammed packed with people walking up from downtown. It wasn't until that moment that I began to really realized how big this could get. The towers still hadn't fallen but you could just tell how bad this could end. After about one more block I turned and headed straight home.

I remember that even before I made it home I was quickly going into emergency mode. I needed to get cash, I need to get water, I needed to get canned goods. I have never been in a war or natural disaster but it is odd how clear the basics become when you are in that position.

I remember going into the nearby grocery store. It was packed with people and absolutely silent. no one was talking and no cell phones ringing because all phones were down. I remember there were so many people in there that no carts or hand baskets were available so people were packing groceries in empty shipping boxes and pushing them around the store with there feet because they were so overloaded with essentials. i remember seeing one guy buying only fruit and yogurt, that seemed like an odd strategy to me. When I got home one of my neighbors asked why I was buying so many groceries "because we are on an island" I said, the look on his faced changed and he walked away.

I remember being able to watch news coverage on tv and being able to look out my South facing window next to the tv and seeing the real scene. It was truly surreal.

I remember it was beautiful and sunny and it was that way for the next few days but all I wanted was for the rain to come and wash away the smoke and the smell.

I remember feeling so isolated because Manhattan is an island and it is tough to get off an island quickly especially with a two year old. By the same token, it is tough to get things onto an island so I really worried about if we would have enough food and supplies. The stores were picked clean and there was no telling how long it would take to restock.

I remember seeing the towers fall while watching tv but not understanding what I was seeing while it was happening. I didn't see it on the videos we all see now, I saw it from a video shot from a news helicopter above - the angle was so weird that it was hard to grasp what was happening.

I remember jogging from my apartment down to the WTC all that summer. I can still picture in my mind exactly how it looked down there and still when I walk down there I still expect to see the towers, Even more than missing the towers when I'm downtown I sometime think I will run over to the Borders bookstore that was at the base of WTc completely forgetting it is not there anymore.

Five years later I still remember everything about that day and I probably always will.