Readers to share personal accounts on the 20th anniversary of 9/11

‘I remember’

Sept. 11, 2001, began like every other day. I dropped my daughter off at Monroe-Woodbury Middle School then off to my office, Plaza Optical in Monroe, to do some paperwork before the day started in earnest. It was quiet and peaceful.

My peace was shattered when my husband Paul arrived at work and told me what happened: He’d seen the second plane hit Tower 2 on the news at home. I felt like the only person on the planet that didn’t know.

The news went on immediately. We were all glued to the coverage. We watched the Towers fall, along with our tears, taking with them the sense of safety we enjoyed as Americans.

Early in my professional career I worked Downtown. I remember the joy I took seeing the progress from week to week as the towers went up, reaching toward the sky. They were nothing short of an engineering marvel.

Then just like that, on a clear September morning, they crumbled in front of my eyes.

Everyone who came and went from our office that day, like us, moved around in a trance. At the time we had been in business in Monroe 26 years. We knew so many of people that worked in the Towers as well as the brave first responders, personally and from the community. The images of the day are forever engraved in my mind.

I remember grieving for the innocent lives lost and for the loss of our country’s innocence. I remember the bravery and selflessness of the people on Flight 93, the firefighters, the police and others that day who ran toward the fire.

I remember how that horrible day brought Americans together, united in our grief and resolve to stand with one another.

- Betsy Utnick. Monroe, N.Y.