09/11/2026
September 11, 2001 — 25 Years Later: A Personal Memory
Twenty-five years ago today, I was working on the 42nd floor at 140 Broadway on Wall Street as an Oracle DBA
It was a beautiful, clear morning in New York. I had arrived at the office shortly after 7:00 a.m., and my desk faced the windows. Suddenly, I saw an airplane flying extremely low, heading in our direction. I was on the phone with my father and told him, “There’s a plane flying too low. It looks like it’s coming toward us.”
Moments later, it struck the World Trade Center next door.
The enormous impact, the dust filling the air, papers falling from the sky, and images I still do not want to revisit left everyone stunned. At first, we did not even realize it was a terrorist attack. It was only after the second plane struck the other tower that we understood what was happening.
As a database administrator, I first safely shut down the critical securities trading systems under my responsibility and switched operations to the backup systems in California. Only then did I begin evacuating.
Going down from the 42nd floor was no ordinary walk downstairs — it was an escape. There were about thirteen steps per floor, and we were practically taking them two steps at a time.
Once we reached the street, we still had no idea what to do next. I had the contact information for everyone at the company and used my BlackBerry to contact colleagues one by one, hoping to confirm that everyone was safe. When I ran into the company’s owner, he told us, “Leave this area immediately.” That was when we truly began trying to get out of Lower Manhattan.
Some people took boats to New Jersey. Others walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. I eventually took the subway, where I saw many people still heading downtown for work. I kept telling them not to go, but many had no idea what was happening above ground.
Later, the subway stopped inside the tunnel. That was when the fear truly caught up with me, and I could not stop crying.
When I reached Penn Station, phone communications had become extremely difficult. Everyone gathered around the televisions, watching the news. By then, the first tower had already collapsed.
I was fortunate to catch one of the last trains back to Long Island. By the time I got off, the second tower had also collapsed.
That day ended, but it never truly left me. For weeks afterward, I would sometimes hear that enormous sound in my mind and instinctively turn around, only to find that nothing was there.
Twenty-five years have passed. New York has rebuilt, but I still remember the blue sky, the impact, the dust, the crowds trying to get away, and the silence of everyone watching the news at Penn Station.
September 11 taught me something I will never forget:
Being able to return home safely is, in itself, a blessing.
Cherish today. Cherish your family. Cherish your friends. And cherish every opportunity to return home safely.
Remembering September 11, 2001 — 25 years later.
Never Forget.
