I was actually in trial on 9/11 -- a false passport case in front of Judge Ungaro. I vividly remember the courtroom deputy handing the Judge a note. We didn't stop at that point but I could see something was wrong. I didn't have a cellphone on, but I did have a beeper (does anyone have beepers anymore) which started to buzz and buzz. Then a second note. This time, Judge Ungaro said we would be taking a recess. I looked at my beeper. I was getting 911 beeps from my wife. I left the building, turned on my cellphone, and called my wife. She told me what was going on and to leave the building because the news was reporting that Miami might be a target. I ended up watching the towers come down in a little pawn shop on North Miami Avenue. It was completely surreal, standing there on the street watching all of this unfold. It's still hard to believe. When the courthouses reopened the following week, Judge Ungaro declared a mistrial...
Please share where you were on 9/11.
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I was in midtown NYC about 40 blocks north of the towers. NYC was in total chaos! I remember the sounds vivdly. Sirens and horns. Madison Avenue was packed with people walking uptown - cars could not get thru. My office window faced south. The smoke billowed and I was watching TV thinking please let this be a Spielberg movie. I lost my cousin and dozens of friends. The hatred is most shocking. That people wanted this to happen and were elated with the results is incomprehensible. I don't understand that degree to hatred.
ReplyDeleteI was in English class (taking the class, not teaching it) at Gables Sr. High, my sophomore year.
ReplyDeleteWatching the news in utter shock and a bit scared.
Experiencing the world I knew change for the worst in just a few hours.
Perhaps hatred is not necessarily meant to be understood. It's a depth that human kind will never reach, as is fulfillment. We can merely be inspired to be a positive light by such tragic events.