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.

In Rome on September 11th

On September 11, 2001, hubby and I were vacationing in Rome. After learning of the deadly attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, we rushed to an Internet cafe to check on the safety of New York City family and friends--all OK, but in shock and mourning.

During the next few days, as we walked through the streets of Rome, we were approached by locals and tourists alike, who asked if were American and then offered condolences and comfort. 

We were visiting the Vatican Museum on Friday, September 15, when a solemn, multinational three-minute silence was observed. Everything and everyone paused throughout the Vatican and all of Rome and beyond, heads bowed as we held in our hearts the many lives lost and the many lives changed forever. Still remembered in our hearts, two decades later.

Remembering 9/11: Memories of the Twin Towers

As a New Yorker, my long-time impression of the World Trade Center towers was that they were modern, sterile, steel-and-glass boxes that happened to be the tallest skyscrapers on Earth when built. I was living in the Bronx when the twin towers opened in Manhattan, within a healthy walking distance of the high-rise apartment building where my mother (Daisy Burk) lived.

We would visit the towers, look up, and shake our heads at the contrast between these architecturally unremarkable buildings and the ornate Manhattan skyscrapers we admired, like the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building (where I later worked in a branch of Sam Goody), and Radio City.

My former sister-in-law was married at Windows on the World atop 1 World Trade Center, a small family celebration with the best view of any wedding I've ever been to. This famous restaurant was a destination on its own within the twin towers complex, with great food, impeccable service, and an incomparable vista stretching out for miles and miles.

On September 11, 2001, hubby and I were in Rome when the World Trade Center was destroyed by terrorists. We saw the shocking news on TV and later went to the Internet cafe to be in touch with our New York family and friends, reassuring ourselves that they were safe and letting them know that Italy was holding candlelight vigils to show sympathy.

So many lives lost, so much gone in such a short time.

In the decade since, I've never had the heart to return to that downtown site, although I've seen photos and videos. Too many memories.

As undistinguished-looking as those twin towers seemed when they were constructed--known for their historic height rather than their beauty--I miss them in the NYC skyline, the gap as gaping as if the two front teeth were kicked out of the city's smile.