A PERSONAL MEMORY OF 9/11
A PERSONAL MEMORY OF 9/11
For about a decade prior to that fateful day I worked at #2 World Trade on the NY Mercantile Exchange. For most of that time I lived in Battery Park City across West Street only a few blocks from the towers. Those were heady days when I and America had a sense of optimism and excitement.
My dear friend and wonderful astrologer Jenny Lynch had a weekly astrology TV show for many years on Manhattan Cable Network where I often was a guest. For about a year I was predicting a terrorist attack on U.S. soil and virtually every time I was on Jenny’s show I reiterated my prediction. I was working with many charts including the chart of Manhattan Island, which had a governing body that began on February 2nd 1653 under Dutch rule. I became convinced not only that the Saturn-Pluto opposition in the sky was set for a horrible attack imminently, but that because this opposition fell almost exactly on Pluto in Manhattan’s chart the attack would occur here. Not in Brooklyn or Queens, but right on the Island of Manhattan, most likely downtown.
For several months prior I was back and forth to Miami to try and see if I could set up my career as an astrologer and trader. I returned to New York only weeks before the attack occurred. I hadn’t found an apartment yet so I was staying at Jenny’s on St. Mark’s Place. The day before I had gone to the floor of the exchange and was supposed to meet my friend Jason for breakfast the next day on 9/11. He never called so I didn’t get up until Jenny yelled at me about 8:45 A.M. that the World Trade Center was on fire. The first tower was burning. We went to the roof of her building with her camera and shot footage as the second tower caught fire and began to crumble. In a state of shock we went down to her apartment and filmed an episode of her show, but we never put it on the air. I have the video tape somewhere. I’ve never watched it and I doubt that I ever will.
Jenny went to Long Island a few days later with some friends. I stayed in her place for weeks as I tried to comprehend what had happened and what this meant to our nation and to me personally. That day I lost friends and clients, my trading accounts, and my future. But that was so far from my thoughts as I tried to understand what all of this meant. The National Guard set up a perimeter on 14th Street and I had to carry an electric bill with the address of the apartment or they wouldn’t let me pass back and forth across the line of defense. Trucks were not allowed on Manhattan for several weeks and the stores and restaurants ran out of food. I would go to eat somewhere and wasn’t given a menu. They told me what they had available and I chose from the small selection. Credit cards didn’t work, and because I knew several restaurant owners I was able to eat on credit and paid them back once the systems were up and running.
I cannot clearly or succinctly describe how it felt. The world had ended. For the first time since Pearl Harbor America was under attack on our soil. We didn’t know if there would be another attack. Shock barely defines our state of mind. For the first time in my life I really understood what it is like to live in a war zone as your world ceases to exist. As time passed I learned how many of my friends and clients had died that day. The Commodities Exchange was on the lower floors and I believe almost everyone got out safely. But I had people who worked in the upper floors, a number at Cantor Fitzgerald who lost their lives. Every year at this time I’m shaken to my core with the memories and thoughts of what happened. Had I still been living in Battery Park City I may have gotten cancer or now might be suffering from major health issues. I was one of the lucky ones. My life changed that day. I had to once again reinvent myself and redirect my energies. It took a long time to adjust, but I was alive. I can’t believe that it’s been 20 years. It’s all the more difficult to fathom as this was a world event, not some minor happening in my life. All who were alive that day share the terrifying memories and the helplessness as we watched our nation and the world change virtually overnight. Our innocence was gone forever. We will never again know the complacency that we took for granted.
And to all who lost someone close that day, whether in New York, Pennsylvania, or Washington D.C. and to the many people I did not know, even as I passed them sometimes on a daily basis coming and going from the Twin Towers, I pray for their souls and for the karma they encompassed. They are all part of the collective in a way that soldiers are who suffer and die on a battlefield for a cause most could never truly understand. They gave their lives without their blessings, not in vain exactly but in a manner so unfair and so discordant all the wisdom of mankind cannot fix a clear voice to. I wish their souls peace. And I pray for our future.
So glad you lived. I lived in NYC from 69 to 74 Can’t imagine how sad it is for you . I still think of this yearly. I’m in Scottsdale Az in the cheapest apt I can find $1250 a month I donated a wreath to the city 911 display. As long as I live I’ll never get over it. Thank you so much for sharing.