Hi All,
I usually talk about Dolphins most of the times but I need to remember the World Trade Center today and what it meant to me. Since I grew up in the shadow of the Towers in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, I saw the towers being built as a young boy. I have really fond memories of them, walking by them hundreds of times, going up to the top many times, going to a wedding at the Windows of the World, having a father playing Piano there, my fraternity brother dieing there, and serving with my church at Ground Zero.
The lower part of Manhattan was my playground when I was a youth, playing in the business district, under the sky scrappers, China Town, Little Italy, and of coarse the Twin Towers. I used to walk between the 2 towers and looked at the top of those buildings and my neck used to hurt so much because I had to bend so far back. Those buildings were a beacon for me; whenever I was in New York City and saw them, I knew my family was not too far away.
Going to the top of those building and walking outside on the railing was so scary and fun. The wind was always so strong up there and you would think it would blow you off the top of the buildings. My mom used to love to go up there with me. I always got a big kick out of how scared she was too. One time a guy walked across the top of both towers on a tight rope. That was totally crazy, but he made it. The one building had the observation tower and other had the TV antenna. That antenna was huge; I think it was 10 stories tall in itself.
My favorite cousin had his wedding reception at Window of the World, which was on the 110th Floor. During the reception, you could feel the building sway a little and everyone was having so much fun with the view from up there. It was a once in a lifetime wedding reception.
My dad, who is a piano player and he used to work in the Windows of the World Restaurant, playing piano man type songs for the guests. You know, Frankie and Dino type songs that the older crowd liked. The restaurant was very upscale. Wow, now that I think about it, I did take one of my first high school dates there too. She was impressed.
My fraternity brother, Jim Kelly, who worked on the top Floor, died during the attacks. Once the attacked happen, I did not know Jim was working there but all the guys rallied together to gather money and support for him and his family, wife and 4 girls. I was called in Florida and went to the wake and funeral in NY. I was amazed how many hundreds of people came to Jim’s wake. People were waiting outside in big lines to get in. It was touching how many people came to the wake.  I was told that many of people showing up for the wake did not even know Jim and where just showing respect for him and the family.
Finally, my church Calvary Chapel Ft. Lauderdale was one of the first churches to go up to Ground Zero on December 2001. I was part of that team to go up. We had a team about 50 people. Some of the team serve at the big feeding / break station at Ground Zero, they had another smaller break station by Ground Zero, and part of the team was at the morgue. We did whatever we could to serve all the construction workers, police, and firemen at the site, by giving love, patience, prayer, kindness, conversation, listening and just a smile. It was amazing 10 days in New York City.
I was able to come full cycle with the World Trade Center, from seeing it being built, seeing a big pile of rubble, to now, a huge empty hole. So today I pray for all the survivor families and especially for my Jim Kelly’s wife and 4 girls that are still recovering from their loss.
911, a day and buildings I will never forget.
I would love to hear your thoughts…..
God Bless,
John
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