SwaneeGRACE | Jeanna 📍NYC

I can't believe it's been 25 years.

It was the most beautiful day. Christopher and I both worked in the city at the time and on this day we both had to be in at the same time so we were commuting together. We lived in Staten Island so 5 days a week -at least- we rode the SI ferry. Our route to get there was a bit of a routine - we would walk down the hill to Richmond Terrace and walk along the water with a view of the twin towers the entire way. This walk with that skyline view and the ferry ride were the highlights of my commute, it was always just the subway I had beef with.

Back to that morning. While we were walking along the Terrace we noticed the smoke and while getting our coffee at Country Donuts everyone was buzzing & confused about what was happening. The general consensus in the coffee shop was that a private plane or helicopter hit it but nobody was really sure. I remember feeling so bad because of casualties and also imagining the hellish commute I was going to have since I was headed to Chelsea Piers for a meeting and I imagined downtown transportation would be crazed. We got back on our way since we needed to be on the 9am ferry. My favorite boat was the Kennedy and, happy to see it, we got my favorite outdoor seats up front which always gave you a non-stop bird's eye view of downtown Manhattan. Of course everyone was buzzing about what was happening. And then all of a sudden I noticed another plane approaching on our left and I turned to Christopher and said "oh look, another plane is coming to spray water on the the fire." And within seconds we witnessed the unimaginable and chaos ensued. We hadn't actually left the dock yet and we just got up and ran back toward the exit as fast as we could. I remember thinking it was the end of the world in that moment, like "what's coming next." Everyone was petrified. We couldn't get through to anyone so we just walked home and turned on the TV. Like everyone, I was numb and in shock and was having a hard time processing it all. I still do actually. Never forget.