The following is an account of my life on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. It is about the tragedy our nation suffered because of the acts of several groups of people who, in my opinion, have no regard for the sanctity of human life. I was there, in NYC, on a day that will forever live in our hearts and minds. I hope that we will not soon forget this event. Tuesday morning I arrived at my friend Linda's house in Easton, PA so we could take the bus into NYC for a day of shopping and relaxing. Just the two of us taking a 'chick's day' as we called it. We wanted to have a day of 'play', stress free and relaxed with no particular schedule in mind. We had packed our lunches and after shopping for a bit, we thought we would maybe sit in a park or something and eat our lunch. Oh, how different our day turned out to be. The bus was sitting at the station when we arrived in Easton so we ran to get our tickets and board the bus, just in time before it left. It was an easy ride in and we chatted and talked about guardian angels and other spiritual themes in our lives. Linda and I have been friends for about 5 years and we have noticed many times that guardian angels seemed to have played an important part in our lives.

 

We were relaxed and ready for a fun day. While riding and almost into NYC, we noticed that one of the towers of the World Trade Center was on fire. Everyone on the bus looked out and saw it. Since there was no radio on the bus, we didn't know at that time it had been a terrorist attack. All we thought was that there was a fire in the tower and we all prayed that those people would make it out safely and the fire put out. This was shortly before 9am, right after the first plane hit. Once off the bus, we heard nothing more about this so we went shopping as planned. While in the store, we heard a news report about the towers. We were informed that a second plane had hit and suddenly the news reporter screamed that the tower was crumbling! This was an act of terrorism! I told Linda that we had to get out of there. They were going to close the city. It was already too late.

All the bridges, tunnels and roads were closed going in or out of the city. As we ran back to the Port Authority to see what was happening with the buses, we were told they were evacuating the building. We had to join the thousands of other people wandering the streets wondering what to do and where to go. We wanted to phone our families to tell them that we were not hurt but we were stranded. The cell phone didn't work, the pay phones were jammed with people and most weren't working either. Linda and I were shocked and terrified. I tried to think of someone, someplace we could go to find safety. I remembered that my parents had worked in the city several years ago and I knew some of the people who still worked there but I couldn't remember the phone number or the address. I tried to find a telephone book but there are none in NYC anymore. I walked into a store while Linda waited on line at a pay phone. I asked the gentleman behind the counter if he had a phone book. He said they didn't but that I could use the phoneŠ.my encounter with the first guardian angel. I managed to telephone my mom who was overjoyed to hear my voice, she was so very worried about me. I told her we were ok and asked for the number and address of Medallion Associates. I told her I was going to call Frank (a friend who worked there) and we would go there to regroup. I told her I'd call again when I could and not to worryŠ."I love you, mom."

 

Frank answered his phone and I told him I was stranded in NY, he immediately told me to come and stay in his office. Linda and I worked our way over to West 20th Street and 6th Avenue. It was quite a walk since we were at 38th and 8th at the time. Linda's knee was hurting her and she couldn't walk too fast. I guess I was nervous about getting there and had to keep slowing my pace which I imagine was close to a run by this time. We reached the building and went inside. In the lobby, I met Terry (she also worked with my parents) and she hugged me and told me not to worry, we could stay here as long as we needed to and we went into the conference room to sit down for a moment. The TV was on and we could see the happenings as they occurred. After a time, we went upstairs to Frank's office and that became our 'headquarters' so to speak. Frank was very supportive and accommodating. We used the telephone to contact our families and my mom felt much better now that I was with Frank. I was glad to be able to ease her worried mind.

Hours passed and we just kept listening to the radio about what was happening, what was closed, and all they kept saying was for people to get out of the city. Lord knows we wanted to but didn't have a clue how to get out with all the roads, bridges and tunnels closed. We heard that there were ferries taking people across to NJ. We decided to try to make our journey back to PA in small steps. If we could get out of Manhattan and into New Jersey, there had to be someone who could pick us up or a train or bus we could take to get closer to PA. I spoke to my dad and he found out about the Circle Line Ferry that was at 42nd Street and 12th Ave. We also knew of another ferry from 30th Street and 11th Avenue. We decided that if the closer one was running and we could get on it, we'd go that route, otherwise we'd keep walking to the 42nd Street Ferry. We hugged everyone goodbye at Medallion and thanked them for taking us in. There weren't many of them left as most had decided to try to get home by walking over the Brooklyn Bridge.

 

As Linda and I started walking again, we met up with a group of people who were also thinking of trying the same routes we were to get into New Jersey. They seemed to know the transit systems better than us and said they were going to try the trains first since it was better to get picked up in Newark or one of the other train stations than to be dropped off at Hobokon or Wehawken by the ferry. We joined their group and even got to know a few names. Aubrey and Chris were two of the guys in the group who seemed to know what was going on, two more guardian angels in our eyes. We followed this group into Penn Station and heard that there were limited train services to Newark and points beyond. We all tried to get on one train but it was packed like sardines bursting out of their cans. No doors were open. We felt even more trapped underground. There was construction down on the platforms so the walkway was very narrow and close to the tracks. With that mass of people, I was worried about someone falling onto the tracks.

While waiting for another train, Linda and I met a woman who was just standing by a pole crying. Linda went up to her and spoke with her a bit. She found out that she had just lost her husband when the towers crumbled. He was in the restaurant on the top of the Twin Towers and she had just left him moments earlier. She was probably leaving to go to work thinking it was just another normal work day. There was so much pain and sadness in her soul. I felt it right through to my own soul. It is something that lives within me now and I get choked up just thinking about it.

We were told that there was another train on track 8 getting ready to leave for Newark. I never saw Linda run so hard and so fast and with a bum knee and a suitcase rolling behind her. I could barely keep up! We ran down the platform, up the stairs and didn't know where to go from there. We followed the crowd and asked someone where track 8 was, he was going there so we followed him. There was the train but all the doors seemed closed. We kept running down the platform hoping for an open door and some room to get in. Finally we saw an opening and rushed inside. Chris from our original group was with us, too. Linda was able to find a seat next to a kindly old gentleman. Chris and I remained standing. I didn't mind at all. At that point I was going to get out of the city and I would stand for as long as it took.

 

After a while, a woman tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to a seat her young son was sitting in next to her. I noticed that the young boy was moving so that he could sit on his mom's lap and allow me to sit down. I told him he was such a good sweet boy for doing this. He smiled at me. I was able to relax a bit now knowing that we would soon be on our way. We all cheered when the train finally started moving. I closed my eyes because I did not want to see anymore destruction. Once we moved away from city, I looked out again and could see the smoke rising in the background. I thought of the woman on the platform standing there all alone, all alone. Such sadness welled up in my heart for her and I prayed that she be given the strength to carry on.

As we approached Newark, I thought it might not be a very good place to get picked up since the Newark airport was now closed and closely guarded and I really didn't know how close the train station was to the airport. I wasn't sure that anyone could get to us to pick us up if we got off there. I gave Linda the cell phone to call Tony, her husband. She spoke with him through much static and breaking up. We actually got off the train but then got back on again because we decided that we wanted to get as far away from the city as possible and this train was going as far as Trenton. That is where we told Tony to pick us up. It was about 1 hour and 45 minutes away from where we live. Had we known the stations better, we could have gotten off at Edison, or New Brunswick. Those stations would have only been about an hour away from PA but it was really too late at that point because Tony was already on his way to pick us up and he didn't have a cell phone anyway. We got off at Trenton Station and waited for Tony to arrive. I called my mom and told her we were in Trenton and safe. I'd call again when I reached home. I called David, my partner in life and finally got to speak with him. I told him what was happening and that'd I'd be home soon. He told me he loved me, through my tears I said, "I love you, too" and hung up the phone.

 

A reporter approached me from the Trenton Times and asked me if I had been in NYC. I told her I was and she asked about what I saw and felt. "All we wanted to do was get out of there" I told her. Linda and I waited outside that station and watched for Tony to arrive. In the meantime we saw many tearful reunions. Each time a car came up to the station scanning the area for their loved ones, someone would quickly jump out of the car and run to their son, daughter, mother, father or friend hugging them deeply, grateful for the reunion. Each time I saw this, my heart went out to the woman on the platform. We spoke to several people while waiting and one man told us he was working in the building next to the towers and he actually saw people jumping from the 80th floor while it was burning! Everyone had a story, everyone was so glad to be out of there.

At about 6pm, Tony arrived. Now it was our turn for the hugs and the tears and a final goodbye to our terrible day. Although we listened to the news on the way home, I felt numb most of the time barely listening. Every now and then I'd hear someone call the radio station and comment about the disaster. At around 7:45pm we pulled up to Linda and Tony's house. I hugged them both and got into my truck to drive home. I left the radio silent all the way home. When I finally pulled into my driveway, David and Ubu, my fuzzy puppy, were waiting for me. As David and I hugged each other, Ubu wandered about barking, she wanted her hugs, too. It was so good to be home. I actually blew kisses to the ground. David told me I had a lot of phone calls to make, he said, "you have a lot of friends, that's a good thing." I made my way into my home and started calling everyone. I hadn't even told all those people I was in NYC that day so it amazed me that somehow, they knew.All my friends and family told me how much they loved me and that they were so very glad that I was home. It felt good inside to have so much love in my life.

 

But the ordeal is not over. Aside from the fact that we have to put our country back together again, we now have to take action. This is something that each and every person can do. It is time to stop being afraid. It is time to stop cowering whenever someone tries to take our freedom away. It is time for action. I urge each and every person to take a few defense classes. Just learn a few different moves you can make to protect yourself and your loved ones. I applaud the passengers on the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania because they took matters into their own hands and managed to overpower the terrorists. Sadly they were not able to save themselves or the plane but they did not allow themselves to be used as an instrument of death against other innocents. This action I speak of doesn't only apply to terrorist acts but to every act of violenceŠthieves, car jackers, rapists, anyone who tries to take away our right to freedom. We can't let them rule our lives anymore. I think the more people who take action against these criminals, the more prepared we will be when (and I pray it NEVER happens again) something of this magnitude takes place. This may seem over the top to some but if your child or your family member were in one of those buildings that was attacked and you were on the plane ready to crash into it, wouldn't you do everything in your power to save their lives? I think the answer would be yes in every case. So why not start now to stop this chaos from ever happening again. We cannot sit idly by and let someone else dictate whether we live or die. I, for one, will be ready.

copyright 9/2001 Maria N. Filosa