Lives, careers and dreams transformed by 9/11

Name: Kristi Roe
Age: 34
Hometown: Charlotte, N.C.

It's hard to say exactly why I feel my life changed on 9/11. The change isn't obvious, I can't describe it in any concrete terms except to say the tinted glasses I once used to view the world were abruptly taken off, and now my view is unedited and clear.

I guess it's because the World Trade Center buildings and people who worked there were a part of my personal experience in New York, an experience that has forever changed me.

I moved to NYC in 1998 to attend graduate school at NYU. The city frightened me. I grew up in North Dakota and even though I was known for being fearless all that fell to the wayside when I arrived in New York. I didn't know anyone and was rebuilding my life after going through some tough times.

I began some temporary work for a company on the 101st floor of World Trade Center, Tower 2, called Aon Risk Services. I was shy at first but the warmth of the people who worked there was apparent and I began to realize that they were just like the people back home, except they moved a heck of a lot faster.

At first, my experience with New York was limited to that building. I would go from point A, my apartment in Brooklyn, to point B, the World Trade Center, and back again. It was all I was comfortable with. Sometimes I would have to work late and the sun would be setting over the city.

Those quiet moments I would peer the out the windows from high above the city, and would begin to think how beautiful it was. A pink transparency cast over everything, which made the city seem softer and more appealing to me. I would put my hands to the glass like a kid in a candy store and wonder what it would be like to "play in that candy shop." I was only 27 and knew that I was meant to be there and that exploring the city was something that would change me. So ultimately I started to venture out and long story short, I grew to love that city.

I graduated from NYU and during my time in New York enthusiastically and thoughtfully explored all it had to offer. Even though I no longer live there I think of it as an old romance. It all started with those windows on the 101st floor of WTC.

I graduated from NYU in the Spring of 2001, and looked for employment throughout the summer. I finally found a position at Jersey City Medical Center as a Senior Primary Therapist for the Adolescent Partial Care Program. My first day of work was to be 9/11.

I went to NYU that morning to get my final paycheck from some work I was doing and was on my way to WTC to take the path train to get to Jersey City. I was walking towards the subway when the first plane hit. I didn't know what was happening. At first I actually thought they must be filming a movie. Then it all became real and somehow I got on the subway to get me back to Brooklyn before they shut the city down. I lived in a part of Brooklyn that was close to the tip of Manhattan, so I watched the events unfold in front of my eyes from my roof top.

While I was on the roof, papers were blowing everywhere from the towers. Most were dropping to the ground before they came near me, but one made it's way and fell on the black tar roof I sat on. That piece of paper was a time sheet from one of the employees at Aon Risk Services, the company I had worked at. I didn't know that person, but it's in that moment that I realized what was happening. I instantly began thinking of my four dear friends who worked there and had supported me so much during my years in NYC. I fell to my knees as the realization of what was happening began to sink in.

Obviously, I could not get to work that day. But I was determined to get to work on September 12th. If there was one thing that New York had given me was strength, and I, like many other New Yorkers, set out on Sept. 12th to get to work. I was particularly intent on getting there because I was in behavioral health, and Jersey City Medical Center was one of the main trauma centers where victims and there families were being sent. So I felt I would be needed, everyone was needed. I left 4 hours early and somehow got there on time.

I walked through lower Manhattan, which looked like a war torn city in some far away country. Everything was gray, dark, there was shock, sadness, and pain everywhere. The pink city I'd fallen in love with had changed its' colors in an instant.

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How do you ever go back to what was in the face of such pain? After 9/11 I had the opportunity to work with children and families who lost loved ones that day, it's all just too much to comprehend. The effects of that day are far reaching, from subtle nuances to huge life shifts. My four friends survived, but were also, forever changed. I've seen the shift in my friends, the shift in the children I worked with, and the shift within myself. And although the shift or change presents itself differently in everyone…it is there.

For me, it is becoming an adult. The building that once "protected" me is gone, as is the scared girl who moved to New York. 9/11 made me realize I can get through almost anything. I saw first hand how people who worked there survived, how children who lost fathers survived...I guess I now live my life knowing that everything is surmountable and very little is to be feared.

People's lives were torn apart, but they went on to live, to laugh, and to love. If they can find hope we all can. I had the honor and privilege to experience that strength first hand, and that will forever be with me.

***

Name: Fred Mirbach
Age: 57
Hometown: Birmingham, Mich.

My stomach leapt to my throat when, from Wall and Broadway, I watched the first tower collapse. I knew the debris wave contained the soul and spirit of all those who perished not to mention toxins which were headed my way.

I escaped to a building south, waited and then listened to the second tower's demise. Floor after floor, pounding on top of each other, the freight train from hell.

Five years later I'm still jarred by sudden, loud noises and low flying airplanes. While my children are young adults (22 and 20) I need to hear from them almost daily and when I leave a message for either of them and it isn't answered within a reasonable time, I over react and begin to think the worst. I've explained this to each of them and their response time is improving.

Since that day, my American flag pin adorns my lapel each and every day. It's my silent tribute to all those who perished and to the families who live on. It also is my way of making sure no one forgets.

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