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As a business major in St. John’s University, my aunt Linda’s dream was to work in the Financial District in Downtown, NYC. She grew up believing that she needed money and a title in order to succeed in life. Her main goal was to have a leadership role in her company. Switching from accounting to marketing at Morgan Stanley, she believed that she had found the career that she was going to stick to for the rest of her life. When I interviewed her, she had a bright smile on when recounting the many projects she completed as a member of the marketing committee. She stresses that she was comfortable with accounting, but marketing was right for her. Sitting in her office in one of the World Trade Center buildings, she believed that she had everything under control: her career, her future, her life.
My aunt Linda is a person who likes to plan out everything in her life. She knew when she wanted to get married, have children and how she was going to live a fulfilling life. She believed strongly in her abilities to achieve a position at her company. Looking out of her window from the 64th floor of this tower, she was tall enough to oversee a large portion of Downtown. The WTC buildings also provided a great working environment. People were very friendly and welcoming. She was comfortable in her building. This environment motivated her to work harder so she could move up in ranking—she had confidence in herself, and it was only a matter of time.
This confidence was ephemeral. If she were worrying about something on that fateful day, it would be preparing for her next conference call. She, or any of her colleagues, never imagined that a plane would crash into her building, but it happened. There are many accounts of how people tried to flee the collapsing structure, but my aunt had her own unique story. September 11, 2001 was the day that threw everything she knew off balance. The environment she was so familiar with turned into chaos.
She had first heard the news from her colleague. All she knew was that something happened and they should leave. My aunt describes the scene outside her winder: debris was flying everywhere, and 1 WTC had been hit. That news was enough for everyone to panic. My aunt was scared, but she was able to stay calm and composed. During a time when everyone was panicking, her and her friends decided to run around and announce this news to everyone on the floor. Everyone was evacuating, but order was necessary. My aunt helped keep order when everyone else tried to run down the stairs as fast as they could.
Screams and cries echoed in the staircase as my aunt and her colleagues ran down from the 64th floor. The planes hit their building when they were on the 20th floor. Everyone was scared, including my aunt, but she managed to scream aloud that everything was going to be okay. She was afraid that people from behind would trample over her. No one was sane at this point. The only thoughts that crossed my aunt’s mind were to hold onto the railing and run down stairs. Even at times of chaos, she was able to calm people down, even if it was for a very brief moment.
It only took one hit to bring down 1 WTC, it was not going to take a very long time for 2 WTC to collapse after it. Running out onto the streets, my aunt turned around to see the building that she was so familiar with collapse in front of her eyes. Pedestrians continued to scream and push. There was nothing else she could do to help her colleagues, so she ran.
Watching the buildings come down made my aunt realize how fragile life is. We can be alive one moment and dead the next. No one can guarantee whether they will be alive in the next moment. Because of this experience, she values life a lot more. Goals such as earning the most money or gaining a title were all superficial. In the end, nothing is more valuable than one’s life. Life was too short for a person to waste it doing something they didn’t like. Although she was happy with marketing, she wanted to stay away from the work environment because this is truly what she wanted.
Every year, there are services held in memory of those who passed away because of this attack. However, for my aunt, they served as a constant memory of the experience on that dreadful day. It is difficult for her to watch the news coverage again every year. To watch the collision again was similar to putting her in the same staircase and having her listen to screams echo down the staircase.
That one glance back at the building was the point that changed her life. It was almost a wake up call for her. She came to learn that life was too short to do what she was doing. Soon after, she had her own family. She values every moment she has with her husband and her son. Although she no longer earns the same salary, money is not important to her anymore. The job title and amount in her bank account would not give her a happy life. She is aware that she does not need to have money in order to succeed in life. The suburban lifestyle she has chosen is happier than the one she led when she was working at WTC. A job title and money can be taken away from her any day, but the moments she spent with her family would always be with her. These moments are priceless.
A powerful narrative!
Your story was both emotional and captivating. It not only contained a narrative of the tragic event, but also an insight into your aunt’s mindset. I really appreciate that you wrote about the transition that she underwent as a result of her experience. In addition, the video that you created was very well done and created a mood that you were able to sustain all throughout your piece.