September 11

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I was working in Tower 2 for Chuo Trust and Bank in 1993 during the first World Trade Center bombing; my one thought that day was “thank God, Dad is safe”. He worked in Tower 1 until a couple weeks before that bombing and fortunately was on the other side on lower Manhattan. It took me over 3 hours to walk down the stairs. 

Fast forward 8 years, and Dad was back at Cantor Fitzgerald in Tower 1. I knew he was dead and had to tell my family. There simply was not enough time for him to get to safety.

I was pregnant with my daughter and my father was over the moon to be a grandfather. Life was good, then it wasn’t. In the few moments after hearing the first plane hit the World Trade Center, I knew my life, my mother’s life, my siblings’ lives and my unborn child’s life had changed. Dad was gone. A 56 year young, father of 4, married to his college sweetheart and future grandfather was annihilated from Earth. Just gone in a few moments. – Kristen