I was in midtown when the towers fell. We watched from a TV in the office. Then we spent the rest of the day trying to get home.

The World Trade terror and tragedy, as well as the ensuing anthrax scare, had a strong psychological effect on me which lingers today.

I lost my job shortly thereafter partly because of anxiety about coming to work in Manhattan. And although I love New York, I no longer enjoy going into the city and don't know if I'll ever work there again.

I live in Texas, as does my family. My husband took an unexpected business trip to New Yorkthree days before 9-11, and on that horrible morning he called to tell me one of the buildings in the Trade Center had been hit. And from there the day unraveled.

He had plans to fly home later that morning. He couldn't get out for a week.

When 9-11 rolls around every year, we all have our remeberances. I am gateful my husband came home. I know how close we came to losing a life that we had built and cherished, and I feel for those who did lose what they loved.

I have been rooting around your site and nodding my head in agreement.

Don't know if you will see this comment, as it is an old post, but I wanted to pop in and say hello.

That's pretty deep. I had considered the people that got killed and I considered the people (like myself) that live here and showed up on the scene later. I had never considered the people that FELT LIKE they were going to die….. but didn't.

I saw the people covered in "dust" on television. A friend of mine was in Brooklyn on the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge, and she described to me seeing all these people walking across the bridge covered in dust. I never thought about things from the inside of that group.

I remember thinking, whoa (and then some).

So glad you are here with us today. So glad to see all the growth and good things since then. Blessings to you and your family.

Difficult in a lot of ways, especially for someone who at the time walked a nightly route towards, around, and through tall buildings, among them The John Hancock to a security assignment.

9/11/01 was the second major event behind New Year's Eve Millenium ( DEC 31 1999 ) I had the misfortune of working on and the days after.

As I told Penelope, the nights after 9/11 were somewhat of a concern needless to say, but like any other person doing my type of job, I felt I had to put my personal feelings aside and do it no differently as before.

- Tom
Haverhill, Mass

As I prepare for a morning run up the Hudson, past the World Financial building, Winter Garden, and back to Battery Park I am reminded of the sacrifices made by both the dead AND survivors. I wasn’t in New York on 9/11. Instead I was trying to rush here. I am a former firefighter who lost two close friends.

On 9/11 I was working for the Federal government in Washington, DC. We saw the Pentagon get struck. We were told our building, along with the State Department, was targeted by a truck bomb. I worked in an emergency services unit of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (when it was still a good agency to work for) and stayed on the job for 36 straight hours.

I was in New York a few days later and lived out of the Marriott Marquis for almost two months. They gave us rooms at a discount; it’s the only way we could afford the rates! The one thing I remember clearly is the Olive Garden restaurant let us eat lunch and dinner for free. To this day, when I pass through Times Square, I stop in and ask for the manager. I tell the manager how thankful I am of their hospitality and generosity. I wouldn’t recommend Olive Garden as a “top New York restaurant" to tourists, but if you are even in Times Square, stop by and just say “thanks".

I am going to stay away from the Trade Center site today. I will probably go to mass at the St. Seton Shrine instead.

Like you, Penelope, I have moved on. I actually moved closer to New York to ensure my family was closer to their family. I have taken inventory and decided working long hours, breaking my neck for my job was less important than playing catch with my sons, going out to dinner with my wife, our spending an extra 20 minutes running along the Hudson instead of pounding out meaningless memos on this computer.

Hug your family today. Look forward to another year of recovery. Be proud to be a survivor. But never forget those that died.

I am sorry this sounds so melancholy. Keep up the good work with the blog. So many of us look forward to your advice, rants, and opinions each day.

L'Chaim!

Also, I love your approach to creating a more meaningful life with your family — thanks for sharing your reflection and experiences.