Paying respect

       Brooke's class had a parade and assembly respecting the lives lost on 9/11/2001. The children sang  patriotic songs and watched slides of pictures of soldiers, who fought many wars for our country.

                            This is a picture that Uncle Martin took of the twin towers in the 1980's

Loosing magnificent buildings that represented wealth, hard work, and the freedom of America, was only a mere fraction of the damage that was done when the Twin Towers came down intentionally on Sept.11, 2001. Our hearts were torn apart, across the entire nation. We cried and mourned,  for the loss of every human soul. Every person remembers where they were, and what they were doing, when they heard this news. Our country, will never forget the pain it caused, and we hold onto the feelings of empathy, even this day, that we have for our brothers and sisters in God, that were lost. We are grateful to the soldiers who lost their lives to try and protect us. We are indebted to many who have given of their time to make sure something like this does not happen again.

I asked Grandma Turano, who grew up in New York, to write some feelings she had on that day. Grandma Turano also asked Uncle Martin to share what he saw that day, after my request to know what it was like for him living very close by  the Twin Towers, at the time.
 Uncle Martin says :
" I've lived in New york my entire life. I've lived in either Brooklyn or lower Manhattan since the early 1970's. I remember when the World Trade Center was being built and then completed in 1973. My girlfriend and I stood at the construction site , right at the base of the buildings, in 1972. No security back then. I remember seeing those two towers from Brooklyn and lower Manhattan every day for 28 years. I remember, in the early 1980's, before my daughter was born in 1984, lying in bed one foggy night and hearing a commercial jet go into overdrive and make a sound that I'd never forget. I was living just a mile or less away from those buildings and found out in the morning that that sound was a South American commercial jet that almost hit one of the towers. Wow, that was close! I remember celebrating grandma & grandpa Mistretta's wedding anniversary at the top of one of those towers. It was at a spectacular restaurant called " Windows Of The World ". You could see all of New York, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and New Jersey from the restaurant and observation deck. The elevators were huge. You could fit 20- 30 people comfortably in one of the cars. And it was super fast! Up up to the top in no time.

In 1993 the year my grandmother died some terrorists tried to bring down one of the towers by planting a truck with a bomb in the parking garage. It didn't work.

 On Sept. 11th 2001 on my way to work,

I walked to work every day, I saw one of the towers on fire." How did they manage to get the bomb up so high?" I wondered. I soon found out. On my walk home the buildings were gone.

The city was eerily quiet that evening and the next morning. For the next few weeks my city was in shock. I lived downtown, not too far from the buildings. The air was filled with an awful smell. Pictures of missing family members and friends were posted all over Union Square Park, a few blocks from my home. Most of those people were never found. A forensic pathologist who lived in my building and who worked for the New York City medical examiner told me that none of those bodies would ever be found. Those buildings were huge and when they came down everything turned to dust. New York City was a very sad place for a long time after the attacks.

I hope the new buildings are finished soon. I've been down there and it's all a buzz with activity. The new buildings look great."



A note that Grandma Turano wrote about her experience on 9/11/2001


As you grow up you will hear many stories about what took place on 9/11 (2001) at the World Trade Center in New York City. I was living in Kansas City, Missouri when they were built and the only time I actually saw them was when I took your great grandparents to a restaurant at the top of one of the towers. We were celebrating their wedding anniversary. My sister and brother were there also. My sister and her family lived on Long Island in New York and my brother lived in New York City near the Twin Towers, as they were called.

On the morning that the Twin Towers were struck by two airplanes, I was watching the news on television while trying to exercise on my treadmill. At first I thought it was an accident but quickly learned that we were being attacked by terrorists. I immediately tried to call my mom and dad, sister and brother but the phone lines were all busy and I became very frightened. I cried because I didn't know if they were safe and then I prayed for their safety. In the meantime while I was trying to get them, I called the rest of my family-your dad in Texas, your Uncle Len in New Mexico, and your Uncle Jeff and Aunt Doreen in Kansas City-I wanted to know where everyone was. I wanted to be sure they were safe. At that time we didn't know if the terrorists would attack elsewhere. Grandpa was at home watching television in a different room. It was a terrible day for everyone in the world and every year we remember those who died and those who had the courage to help the wounded. We remember the police, the fire fighters and the volunteers.

Today, after ten years of planning, we have built a beautiful memorial where many were buried and we will also rebuild the towers. New York is a wonderful place and I hope that some day you will visit there. In the meantime, pray that God will change the hearts of angry people all over the world.