Remembering 911 Windows: Honoring the 73 Employees Lost

Well, let me tell you about that 911 thing, the one with the windows. It was a real mess, that’s what it was. Those big buildings, they had these things called “Windows on the World,” up high, real high. Sounded fancy, like somethin’ you’d see on TV. But it weren’t fancy at all when it all came down.

The day everything went bad, it started like any other day, I reckon. People gettin’ up, goin’ to work, eatin’ their breakfast. Some folks, they were up in them Windows, havin’ meetings or eatin’ somethin’ fancy. Maybe drinkin’ coffee, just like you and me. Then, bam! Everything changed.

I heard tell that a plane, a big ol’ plane, crashed right into one of them towers. Can you imagine? Just outta the blue, somethin’ like that happenin’. Folks didn’t know what was goin’ on. Scared, I bet. Then, another plane hit the other tower. That’s when everyone knew, somethin’ awful was happenin’.

• Scared folks, runnin’ everywhere.
• Sirens wailin’ all over the place.
• Smoke and fire, fillin’ the sky.

Those Windows, they weren’t so fancy anymore, were they? They became a trap, a place where people were stuck, couldn’t get out. I heard stories, awful stories, about people jumpin’. Jumpin’ from way up high, just to escape the fire. It makes my stomach turn just thinkin’ about it. Poor souls.

There was this fella, Michael Lomonaco, he worked there. Lucky for him, he was late that day, somethin’ about his glasses bein’ broke. Can you believe it? A pair of busted glasses saved his life. Makes you think, don’t it? How life can change in a blink of an eye.

But lots of other folks weren’t so lucky. Lots of people workin’ in them Windows, they didn’t make it out. Cooks, waiters, people havin’ meetings, all gone. Just like that. More than seventy of ’em, I heard. Seventy folks, gone in a puff of smoke. It ain’t right.

And then the towers fell. Can you imagine seein’ somethin’ like that? Those big, strong buildings, just crumblin’ to the ground. Dust and debris everywhere. It looked like the end of the world, some folks said.

After it all happened, everyone was talkin’ about it. On the TV, on the radio, everywhere you went. It was a sad time, a time of mournin’. Lots of families lost loved ones that day. Lost them in them towers, in them Windows. It’s a heartbreak, that’s what it is.

They said it was terrorists, bad people who did this awful thing. I don’t understand it, why someone would want to hurt so many innocent people. It don’t make no sense to me. Just senseless violence, that’s all it was.

Even now, years later, people still remember. They remember them towers, them Windows, and all the people who were lost. It’s somethin’ you don’t forget, somethin’ that stays with you. A sad, sad day in history, that’s what 911 was. A day when those Windows became a symbol of somethin’ terrible, somethin’ lost.

It makes you think, don’t it? About how fragile life is, how quickly things can change. Makes you appreciate the little things, the everyday things. Makes you hug your loved ones a little tighter. Because you never know, do you? You never know when somethin’ bad might happen.

And those Windows? They ain’t there no more. But the memory of ’em, and the people who were lost there, that memory will stay with us, always. It’s a reminder, a sad reminder, of a day the world changed forever.

Tags: [911, Windows on the World, World Trade Center, September 11, terrorist attacks, Michael Lomonaco, North Tower, South Tower, tragedy, loss]