09/11/2026
Ever since that September eleven, the sky has been as blue and clean as that morning. Coming out of the subway station on Chamber St on my way to work that day I looked up and thought what a beautiful day it was.
Less than 30 minutes later I was watching the flames come out of the huge hole on the first tower from the 9th floor of 346 Broadway.
Another 30 minutes and I was running to 14 St. I hopped on a train that didnât make it past Port Authority where all service was then suspended.
I was terrified thinking âwhat if I donât make it back home to my precious 10th month old babyâ? In survival mode, I jumped inside a taxi dropping off a passenger outside PA without even given the taxi driver a chance to turn me down after what was his last ride of the day.
The radio was on playing the news and we heard when they announced the second tower hit had collapsed. I thought we were all going to die. At some point during that endless ride he was able to reach his wife on his cell. She had been worried when he didnât make it back home at his usual time. The call was choppy but he asked her to call my mom: âtell her that her daughter is safe, tell her she managed to get out of there and sheâs coming homeâ. When we finally made it to 181 St and Broadway that saint of an African taxi driver didnât even want to charge me for the ride. I gave him the $25 I had on me and got out to walk the 6 and a half blocks home.
I ran into 2 young cops outside the 34 Precinct. They moved towards me realizing I was visibly in shock but I walked past them like a zombie. About 3 blocks further down I could no longer stand and crawled into a bodega and collapsed on the floor. The guy behind the counter thought I was a j***y and tried to kick me out but people inside stopped him when they realized I was too well dressed and clean with the exception of my shoes that were messed up to be on drugs. They helped me sit, gave me water and managed to get my home phone number out of me to get someone to come pick me up.
I couldnât let go of my baby when I made it home thinking if we were all going to die I might as well be holding him. I remember as vivid as that day.
