I spent many years of my adult life working in and around the World Trade Center. After 9/11, I worked directly across the street to the east at 1 Liberty Plaza. My husband works directly across the street to the west in the Financial Center. Even though I have walked through and around the site hundreds of times in the past 5 years, I will always remember the World Trade Center as it was before that horrible day 5 years ago.
When I lived at 295 Greenwich St., I walked to my job in 2 World Trade Center. I moved there when I was 24 years old and I remember feeling at the time that I lived and worked in the center of the universe. I remember each step of the walk to and from work. I remember looking up at the vertical lines just before I walked through the revolving doors. I remember the unmanned window washers that would come up and down the building. I remember the sunsets looking out of the southwest corner of the office. I remember that we had file cabinets by the windows and how ridiculous that seemed to me – what a waste of a fabulous view! I remember walking home for lunch by cutting across the Plaza and down the escalator on the north side of the buildings. I remember that my doctor and Allstate agent had offices right by the escalator and I would go to appointments after work. I remember walking across the Plaza to Century 21 before or after work (too crowded during lunch). I remember buying 1/2 priced tickets at the TKTS booth in our lobby. I remember having drinks at Windows on the World with family in town for a visit. I remember standing in line with all the tourists going up to the observation deck. I remember cutting through the lobby of the Marriott hotel (once the Vista) and having business breakfasts with clients in the hotel restaurant. I remember coming into the PATH station in the basement on Sunday nights after dropping off our car in Jersey City. I remember sitting on my roof top deck at night and staring up at the gleaming lights in the Trade Center windows (and the flashing red antenna on the top). I remember coming out of any subway stop and getting my bearings by looking for the towers. I remember picking up my sister from the Olympia bus stop on West St. I remember flying into Newark (most often from the north to the south) and hoping I would get a seat on the left side of the plane so I could get a glimpse of the skyline and the Statue of Liberty. I still do that today, but now I try to put imaginary buildings in the vacant spot where the buildings once were. While I do my best to get by the site without remembering the details of that horrible day, I do remember and I will never forget.