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September 11,
2001, 12:11 p.m.
I'm downtown relatively close to what was the Trade Center and came through
its basement as I do most mornings about 15-30 minutes prior to the first
plane crash. I'm fine here, though it may be a long time before I'm able
to get home. I'm very thankful that I'm no longer in my old office which
for many years was on the NE corner of the 99th floor of the north tower
not far from the impact location of the first plane.
The cloud that surrounded
us following each tower's collapse made me think of the plague of darkness
in Egypt. I have a building about 75 yards in front of me that I could
not see and dust and paper was everywhere—an unbelievable sight.
We saw the plane crash into the second building and felt the jolt in our
own building. And when the south tower of the Trade
Center went down, it felt similar to the beginning of the 7.5 quake I
felt in my office in Mexico City, though lasted only 2-3 seconds.
Other than our ventalation being shut down to not take in the dust, we are fine. But there are stories of those who may not be.... I look to the hills from whence cometh my help....
September 12,
2001, 10:20 a.m.
The most important thing now here is to pray for those affected either
directly through the loss of a loved one (did not here of anyone in my
son's class or even the school that matter who was lost, but it is too
early to tell) or indirectly. My kids are not sure how to react and they
will be trying to help them begin to understand in school here today.
And of course pray for
the bigger picture as retribution seems on the top of too many people's
minds instead of restoration and forgiveness.
I have heard so many
tragic stories through the media or directly on the way home last night.
It really hit me coming home, my friend. Pray for me as I begin to speak
to friends and colleagues and get back to work sometime in the near future—it's
going to be difficult. Things will never be the
same....
September 14,
4:44 p.m.
I found both comfort/hope and grief in watching the beautiful service
at the National Cathedral today.... Other connections continue to be made.
One of the people I'm working closest with on my current project is the
project manager with a company called Nervewire, which is a managment
consulting firm that the consortium of 10 large brokers and banks has
hired. I am the project manager from the consortium's standpoint, so I
work with this person daily, negotiate contracts with him, etc. He
was in the Air Force at one time (a fact I didn't know until today, though
helps to explain why he is so good at what he does) and knew very well
the pilot on one of the hijacked Boston flights. He also had a close friend
who was a passenger on one of the Boston hijacked flights. So please add
him to your prayer list—he is trying to put on a strong front, but
is grief stricken. He had a hard time speaking this afternoon as we finally
connected and we begun to discuss some business.
Dirk Pruis '82
