Looking Back at the Twin Towers, 25 Years Later

It was mid-afternoon in Rome, Italy on September 11, 2001 when dramatic scenes captured by CNN broke into regular afternoon programming. My husband and I were with a tour group and many folks were having a quick snooze between outings. I was relaxing in the lobby, a small needlepoint project in hand and one eye on the Italian show on TV. Suddenly, the screen switched to horrifying CNN footage of a World Trade Center tower rammed by a plane.

Quickly I found the tour guide to translate the Italian announcer's commentary and together we gathered the rest of the guests around the TV. As we watched in disbelief, the second jet rammed the Twin Towers and our guide kept translating what the news anchors were saying. We sat numb and devastated as the first Tower collapsed.

Many tour members rushed to call friends and relatives in New York City, even though we'd already heard that the lines were jammed and calls weren't getting through. My hubby and several others sprinted to the nearest Internet cafe to check online news sites and send e-mails to our New York relatives and friends.

The rest of that day is a blur, although I remember the guide suggested a quiet walking tour of one of the seven hills. The next day, we (and everyone else) ran to buy newspapers for more coverage of this terrible attack (image at top shows the front pages of two Italian newspapers from September 12, 2001). 

Throughout that tour, Italians would gently approach us, ask if we were American, and express their shock over the attacks and their support for us in our grief.

The tour visited the Vatican on Friday, September 14, when the worldwide three minutes of silent observance was held. We, along with everyone inside and outside the Vatican buildings, stood completely still, heads bowed, in silent prayer or contemplation or sorrow. For three minutes, the world mourned together.

Now 25 years later, the anniversary of that tragic day still brings sadness but also remembrance about how many lives were saved, and the heroism of New York's Finest and New York's Bravest. Never will I forget the comforting feeling of joining with people of many nations to observe that solemn moment of silence thousands of miles from New York City, my home town.