I never thought I would be blogging about something like this. Then again, I don’t think any of us ever imagined that this would happen. Being from Brazil, terrorism always seemed like such a foreign concept to me, even after living here for so many years.

The phone rang at 7:40 am and Heidi was crying so I couldn’t understand what she was saying. The words finally came out but it took a while for them to sink in. A few minutes later my dad called on the other line. They were all very worried even though I’m all the way here in California.

My next call was to Su. Her sister lives in NYC but I wasn’t sure where. Su told me she lived near the Financial District and that she hadn’t been able to talk to her sister yet. Around 10:00 or 11:00 am Su heard that her sister had left Manhattan early that morning for a meeting with a client in Connecticut. She was one of the lucky ones.

I then heard that Alice had been on the subway from Brooklyn to her job in Manhattan that morning. Lucas had talked to hear yesterday and she was fine. She emailed her friends today with her account of what she saw. I couldn’t even begin to image the picture she described. She said people were running around, panicking, she saw someone having a heart attack; others were paralyzed like zombies.

I also heard from Ron and Jo and they are doing fine. I haven’t heard back from Dom but I am hoping that he was very far from the WTC.

About an hour ago, I got an email from Brendan. His sister worked on the 85th floor of the south tower. Some co-workers saw her in the stairwell around the 40th floor. Unfortunately, Brendan and his family (they’re all in Ireland) haven’t been able to contact her yet. My thoughts are with them right now and I am praying that they hear from her soon.

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