9/11

Today is the 8th anniversary of 9/11. Normally, I'd watch all the news, documentaries about it on tv, the annual rites, etc., but today, Norman is off, and he doesn't want to watch any of these.

Originally from NY, and witnessing how the World Trade Center was built from beginning to end, driving around it everyday on his way to and from his rehearsals with his rock bands, MOUNTAIN and, later on, HAMMER... then seeing it on tv live as it collapsed, Norman feels violated... I respect his feelings.

I've just called up my cousin, Zenaida, in NY. Every year, I call her on this day. She's one of the survivors of the WTC attack along with another cousin, Joe, from the 81st floor of both towers -

When we finally connected on the phone, the day after the attack, I learned from her that the elevator she took coming down was the very last elevator that made it to the ground floor. All the rest had stopped!! She said when the announcement to evacuate the building was made, she rushed to the elevator.

In 1993, when the WTC was bombed, she was there, too. She and thousand others were stranded inside the building for about 5 hours before they were allowed to leave using only the stairways. It took her and others from the 88th floor about 2 1/2 hours to reach the ground.

This is why on 9/11, without hesitation, she took the elevator. That's how she got out.

When she saw the 2nd plane hit the South Tower from the street where she was standing, she knew... she knew, at that very instant, that the plane went through her office right through her corner desk on the 81st floor!! I asked her how she knew from the ground what floor was struck, she said, "I've worked there for 15 years, I would look thru my window everyday and know exactly the angle at which the sun hits which building, the heights of the surrounding buildings on my floor, standing at my corner, sitting at my desk, looking up at my office from the streets from all sides..."

Sure enough, when the news came out later, "... the 2nd plane went right between the 79th and 83rd floors of the South Tower."

One day, months later, my cousin told me, "In any disaster where you're trapped in a building, DON'T EVER TAKE THE ELEVATOR!!"

"But it saved your LIFE!!" I literally yelled at her.

"DON'T EVER TAKE THE ELEVATOR."

I kept telling her it saved her life!

Looking back, her voice cracking on the other end of the line, she softly said, "what if...".

My other cousin, Joe, to this day, will not talk about 9/11... I respect his silence.

I wrote a music composition entitled, DAY OF REMEMBRANCE, in memory of 9/11/2001. It's in my debut album, Socorro.