Sept 11

Twenty years ago today-- right about now, a little before 10am-- I was standing on the opposite corner of the street from my 39th floor office at One World Trade-- silently watching as the building burned.  

I had a shopping bag in each hand, one filled with a giant container of cheese puffs and the other with roasted salted cashews. The kind of treats you put on your desk for sharing with your team.

When the first tower came down, I was one of those faceless people you saw on the news... running... followed by a surreal twenty-story-high cloud of dark smoke.

My run eventually turned into a walk as I joined a lot of people making their way up the West Side Highway. 

--

I remember stopping and turning to see the second tower come down.

I sat. Right there. On the edge of the highway. And cried.

It was only then that I realized that I was still holding on to the bags.

I like to think that I held on to them because what was in them was a commitment to connection. And hope. But it was probably just shock.

--

There's a fancy gym on the West Side Highway about 3 miles up from ground zero. The people who worked there had the presence of mind to set up some tables outside with free cups of water for the masses walking away from the towers.

We all think about the colleagues and loved ones we lost.  

And the first responders.  

And we should.

I also like to think about that water.