story11119.xml

story11119.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2004-10-12

I was in NYC about a week before Sept.11, a day we should never forget, after 3 months working at a Summer camp in PA. I'm from Australia and NYC is one of my favorite cities. I remember my travelling buddy had to spend half her day at the UK embassy to get her visa, and thus I was free to roam around NYC. I visited various parts of NYC and then arrived at the Twin Towers, which was an awesome sight, looking up at the buildings. I went inside the foyer and decided to visit the viewing platform. But then I had second thoughts. I didn't want to go up by myself and decided that I'd visit again with with my travelling buddy when we arrived back in NYC 6 weeks later, after our travels around USA. Sadly, I never got the chance to see NYC from the Tower. We arrived in Yellowstone NP on Sept.11 and watched the TV, in horror, as we saw footage of the Twin Towers falling, the plane exploding, etc. It was like a hollywood movie, but it was real. I was upset and shocked. My thoughts were of my fellow Counselors from Summer Camp whom were possibly in NYC still; it was an aweful feeling. Upon our return to NYC, what had been an amazing experience standing in the shadow of the Twin Towers was nothing more now than a pile of rubble. The smell is something I will never forget, and the dust everywhere; total destruction. I didn't get the chance to look down on NYC, but I looked up.. and remembered the fall'n.