Remembering a Friend Lost On 9/11 posted 9/11/2009 1:01:10 PM | 2 kudos what's this?     report abuse tagged: death

Etowah

It was exactly this time, eight long years ago, that I first realized that something might be terribly long. I had known Jennifer for two years. She was an Historic Preservation Consultant in Boston. I was a Historic Preservation Architect living north of Atlanta. She was recently separated when she first emailed me with a technical question about one of the buildings I had restored. More emails were sent with technical questions mixed in with subtle personal questions, that only women know how to do. When we both realized that I was legal and she was about to be legal, the emails became more personal. However, the distance between us keep the conversation on a friendly basis only. I imagined she was dating around. I went through some short term dating flings. The email exchanges would be more sporadic during those times.

By the summer of 2001, Jennifer became convinced that I really was single and really not living with someone. That was confirmed by several late night calls out of the blue. She still couldn't figure out why I was not tied down. I finally convinced her that the problem was not mine, but the women available where I lived.

In August, she called me on my birthday and announced that after attending a conference in Atlanta in late September, she wanted to spend several days with me - perhaps go camping. It we got along, she suggested that I could come up to Massachusetts for Thanksgiving at Plymouth.

I first turned on the TV that 9/11 when my sister called from my parents to tell me that a jetliner had flown into one of the World Trade Towers. Two weeks earlier she had called me to say she was flying to Atlanta on 9/11. I don't know why, but I immediately responded that she shouldn't fly on 9/11 because there was going to be bad terrorism involving airliners. Sis flew in on the 10th instead. It turns out that knives were found hidden under the seats of the Delta flight she would have taken on the 11th.

I connected with the internet. To my shock, there were several emails from Jennifer, begging me to write back. She was not in Boston. She was in New York City - staying at the World Trade Center Hotel! She IM'ed me as soon as she saw I was online. She was using a laptop in her hotel room.She said she had to talk to me, if she was going to survive the day emotionally. We talked - well mostly I listened as she described on site the scene of horror that was only seen at a distance on TV. People were jumping out of windows of the towers. Very soon thereafter, she watched several of her colleagues die as the first tower collapsed. She screamed and almost lost control. She had been delayed going to a meeting in that tower because of a phone call from her mother. It had save her life. She said that the situation was getting worse and worse out there. A white cloud of dust now completely blocked her view. The fire alarms were going off in her hotel. She had to leave. She would call me again as soon as she was safe. Her last words on the cellular were, "Richard, I can't go home after this. Can I fly down and be with you tonight. I need someone to hold me."

She hung up. Maybe five minutes later the second tower collapsed. I was in such a state of shock, that I didn't think of Jennifer being down there. Something was terribly wrong. Any architect knew that 110 story buildings would not fall straight down like a controlled demolition. If they collapsed at all, they would tilt toward the side where the fire was hotest.

I never heard back from Jennifer. I tried calling her and got a message that all cellular service in Manhatten was inoperable. I called that night. Still could not get a call through. Maybe she changed her mind and went back to Boston. I called her home phone for a month, but only got her voice recorded on the answering machine. The last time I called, her number was not in service. I didn't know her parents' name or hometown, so it was the end of the road.

It is how a warm friendship ended. The Sound of Silence. I am sure she will be there to greet me in heaven. She was beautiful person, inside and out. Jennifer, I miss you.

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