I was up in the loft of my garage today (yes it has a high roof) lugging my suitcase, from my Florida trip back up there. After getting the suitcase put away, I saw a box of things from days gone by. All of the items in the box were things I had in my office, at the at 6 WTC, on September 11, 2001. Luckily for me, I was not in the office that day, I was up in CT for a Glock Armorers Course that was left hurriedly, and thus uncompleted, so my cousin John, who was attending with me, and I could return to NY to lend assistance. (That is another story though and lest I digress for pages and pages, I will stick to the short tale of the two treasures.)
I decided, for whatever momentary impulse had struck me, to take a quick look through the box and inspect the contents. Considering that the box was not closed in anyway, I was lucky that everything looked just like it had when I put it in there. In fact, some things looked virtually as good as the day I first got them. Take for example one of the more fragile things in the box. It is a coffee mug from the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum near Tucson, AZ. I must have gotten that in the very late 1980s or the very early 1990s while on a trip to AZ with my wife and daughter. I used that cup regularly for both coffee and tea at first at home but later in my office. It was in my office on 9/11 and there it sat, before, during and after the moments of the actual attacks of the World Trade Center.
A short while later on that fateful day, it sat there before, during and after the collapse of 1 World Trade Center - which was immediately next to 6 World Trade Center. It was so close that much of the debris from the collapse landed on top of our building and caused a partial but devastating collapse of the then Custom House (and please note it is not Customs House). While the collapse was not total, it was indeed devastating. I saw it first hand a few days later and was inside the building (close to but not in my office) several times. There was debris such as huge pieces of concrete from upper floors all the way down at the lowest level basement but surprisingly enough there were areas just inches away from the destruction that were as if untouched except by dust. My cup apparently sat there, in my office untouched because it was returned to me, in pristine condition, more than a month later. I had a few guns and some other things there too that were also recovered but most of my personal belongings that I had therein were lost to me forever.
One of the other things that was recovered was my name plate that sat in its holder on my desk. It survived 9/11 along with the cup. Most of my belongings that were saved were in a locker of sorts, on the opposite side of a wall that was adjacent to my desk. That locker was less than a foot away from the desk but things inside of it were not even covered with much dust let alone smashed or otherwise destroyed - for instance the pistols I had therein were not at all damaged. I don't recall for sure if the cup was in the locker or on my desk but I figure it must have been in the locker or spared by a miracle of inches. I say that because the nameplate, that was definitely ion my desk, did not fare as well as the cup, not by a longshot. It did survive though but all bent out of shape from whatever landed on it. Yet, like the cup, it too is a treasure.
Yes, someone recovered the cup, the nameplate, my guns and some other personal items I got them back sooner or later. I was pretty amazed to get that stuff back considering the ppile of rubble that much of 6 WTC had become but I got them thanks to an honest person (or persons) looking out for me. I have treasured them both, along with other things even though stashed away in that box in the garage oft.
As far as the nameplate goes, I used to keep it out in the open, on a file cabinet next to my desk in my office, when I worked for Uncle Sam, because it was special - it was indeed a treasure. Then, upon retiring, it went into that box and wound up in the garage loft. I guess I kept it there, with that cup, these 3 plus years since I retired, because it is a reminder of something I was trying to forget. No, not the 9/11 attacks and all that but the fact that it went in to the box after I had to retire when I was almost dead from cancer. We were both twisted in a way but also both survivors of a terrible ordeal.
Finding it today may have been a fortuitous event for me. I've been in a bit of a rut lately and recently made a decision that I was going to climb out of it. Now it's not a new year's resolution, and truly just coincidence that it comes at this time of year, but I have definitely made a decision to do less work and do more leisurely things that I enjoy and to do them more often. Heck, I am retired and may as well have fun an not work as much as I have been doing these last couple of months. So, bringing that name plate out of the box and into the light while treasuring it again is a bit like me getting off of my plump lard-arse to do things like: hit the gym a few days a week, take the dogs for walks now and then, travel more, go to the range at least monthly, bake some pies and other delectables with more frequency, BBQ some now and again or just do more of whatever else I enjoy.
All the best,
Glenn B
I decided, for whatever momentary impulse had struck me, to take a quick look through the box and inspect the contents. Considering that the box was not closed in anyway, I was lucky that everything looked just like it had when I put it in there. In fact, some things looked virtually as good as the day I first got them. Take for example one of the more fragile things in the box. It is a coffee mug from the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum near Tucson, AZ. I must have gotten that in the very late 1980s or the very early 1990s while on a trip to AZ with my wife and daughter. I used that cup regularly for both coffee and tea at first at home but later in my office. It was in my office on 9/11 and there it sat, before, during and after the moments of the actual attacks of the World Trade Center.
A short while later on that fateful day, it sat there before, during and after the collapse of 1 World Trade Center - which was immediately next to 6 World Trade Center. It was so close that much of the debris from the collapse landed on top of our building and caused a partial but devastating collapse of the then Custom House (and please note it is not Customs House). While the collapse was not total, it was indeed devastating. I saw it first hand a few days later and was inside the building (close to but not in my office) several times. There was debris such as huge pieces of concrete from upper floors all the way down at the lowest level basement but surprisingly enough there were areas just inches away from the destruction that were as if untouched except by dust. My cup apparently sat there, in my office untouched because it was returned to me, in pristine condition, more than a month later. I had a few guns and some other things there too that were also recovered but most of my personal belongings that I had therein were lost to me forever.
One of the other things that was recovered was my name plate that sat in its holder on my desk. It survived 9/11 along with the cup. Most of my belongings that were saved were in a locker of sorts, on the opposite side of a wall that was adjacent to my desk. That locker was less than a foot away from the desk but things inside of it were not even covered with much dust let alone smashed or otherwise destroyed - for instance the pistols I had therein were not at all damaged. I don't recall for sure if the cup was in the locker or on my desk but I figure it must have been in the locker or spared by a miracle of inches. I say that because the nameplate, that was definitely ion my desk, did not fare as well as the cup, not by a longshot. It did survive though but all bent out of shape from whatever landed on it. Yet, like the cup, it too is a treasure.
Yes, someone recovered the cup, the nameplate, my guns and some other personal items I got them back sooner or later. I was pretty amazed to get that stuff back considering the ppile of rubble that much of 6 WTC had become but I got them thanks to an honest person (or persons) looking out for me. I have treasured them both, along with other things even though stashed away in that box in the garage oft.
As far as the nameplate goes, I used to keep it out in the open, on a file cabinet next to my desk in my office, when I worked for Uncle Sam, because it was special - it was indeed a treasure. Then, upon retiring, it went into that box and wound up in the garage loft. I guess I kept it there, with that cup, these 3 plus years since I retired, because it is a reminder of something I was trying to forget. No, not the 9/11 attacks and all that but the fact that it went in to the box after I had to retire when I was almost dead from cancer. We were both twisted in a way but also both survivors of a terrible ordeal.
 |
| As you can see, the name plate is a bit worse for the wear having survived 9/11. I guess I am much the same, a bit worse for the wear having survived cancer. |
Finding it today may have been a fortuitous event for me. I've been in a bit of a rut lately and recently made a decision that I was going to climb out of it. Now it's not a new year's resolution, and truly just coincidence that it comes at this time of year, but I have definitely made a decision to do less work and do more leisurely things that I enjoy and to do them more often. Heck, I am retired and may as well have fun an not work as much as I have been doing these last couple of months. So, bringing that name plate out of the box and into the light while treasuring it again is a bit like me getting off of my plump lard-arse to do things like: hit the gym a few days a week, take the dogs for walks now and then, travel more, go to the range at least monthly, bake some pies and other delectables with more frequency, BBQ some now and again or just do more of whatever else I enjoy.
All the best,
Glenn B
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