larcenousturco

Tuesday, September 11, 2001. . . I was 22 years old, working at American Income & Life Insurance company at the time as a outside sales insurance agent. . . When the first plane hit, a guy came into the office and said a plane had run into the tower. . . We all thought he meant like a prop plane at first and kind of brushed it aside (as we were in a meeting and had no TV in the office to see what was going on). 15 minutes later the same guy came back and said another plane had crashed into the other tower, and the room went quiet. . . We all talked to our managers and the bastard managers in the office told us that we had to go out in the field to our appointments later that day anyway. . . I will never forget that afternoon. . . I felt like I couldn't be a douchebag insurance salesman that day, but I had to go and attempt to talk to these people. . . The first house I went to had the news on TV, and I just listened to story after story and cried with these complete strangers, who welcomed me into their homes with open arms. . . The hours I spent that day alone in my car driving to each appointment were some of the loneliest minutes of my life. . . Those minutes felt stagnant and miserable, like the dread you feel in the pit of your stomach when you see a doctor walking towards you to give news of someone close to you passing away. I felt a strange power at work in me that day, as every person at every appointment I had invited me in so willingly, and was so open and honest about their emotions and stories. At the same time I was feeling distraught and horrified over what had unfolded that day, I also suddenly was filled with a great sense pride about where I was from. It truly felt to me like this country was coming together as a whole for once in my life, instead of bickering over the mundane of our daily lives, people were intimately opening up to complete strangers. . . Terrorism had claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people, but it did not rob us of our identities as Americans and citizens of this planet.

I have a friend that lost 2 brothers, firefighters, in that attack. . . This story is for those brothers, so that, hopefully, people can remember that their heroism didn't just affect the people at the World Trade Center buildings that day.

10 years later, I believe that "Ground Zero" was not only located at Liberty St & Church St New York, NY 10006, but was in fact located in every home, business, heart and mind across the country.

10 years later, the towers may still be missing from our sight, but never from our thoughts.