9/11 2021

 

Twenty years ago today planes hit the twin towers in NYC and destroyed them, Some 1500 American men and women were killed. The event triggered twenty years of war against Afghanistan and Iraq. Revenge was the motive. Pure revenge. They hurt us, we hurt them.

I was in New York when the buildings were hit and went down. The meeting of the trustees of the The General Theological Seminary had concluded. Reading in my guest room at 175 Ninth Avenue, I heard the police and fire sirens blasting away. I found a TV set and saw replays of the planes hitting the buildings. My stomach lurched and my heart froze. Everything is going to change, I worried. 

I tried to call Ann to tell her I was all right. No connection. I called Leigh and asked her to call Ann in San Francisco to report that I was OK, not hurt.

On the streets I saw hundreds of people, many covered with ash, scurrying up Ninth Avenue fleeing Wall Street and heading home.

Airpot, bridges, tunnels and subways were suddenly shut down. I want to leave the city that day to get to New Haven, CT to spend sometime with Leigh and family.

I remembered a small iron bridge connecting Manhattan and the Bronx. I bet that that bridge would be open. I rented a car and drove to the bridge and got out of Manhattan. I drove north to New Haven and resumed my family visits to Leigh, Sarah and Jessica and their families.

These thoughts dominate my mind and spirit on this anniversary.