September 11, 2001

Today, as we remember the terrorist attacks of eleven years ago, I thought it would be appropriate to share the 9/11 story of one of our family members. I hope to do this each year on this day - turning this site into not just a repository for long-gone ancestors, but also of our family's story as it is today.  

This story is from Mel Ferrer, my first cousin once-removed on my mother's side:

Joanne and I had traveled to New York City10 days after the attacks (we had won and planned the trip a month earlier). As you can imagine it as surreal, as Joanne shot photos & I collected that few scraps of paper from the towers (which were still burning rubble) from Battery Park. I returned one piece, an insurance license, to the owner. This is her story:

 

Subj: Thank you!
Date: Thursday, January 31, 2002 9:57:50 AM

Hello Mel,
My license was in my purse which I had left on my desk on the 92nd floor of the South Tower. I made it out by taking the stairwell immediately after the first plane hit the North Tower at 8:45. I was 40 floors down at the 52 floor when the second plane hit my building at the 77th floor. It took me 40 minutes to walk the 92 floors down and into the chaos on the street. Fifteen minutes later my building was the first to fall killing among the others many coworkers who stayed in the offices at AON. Needless to say, I will never forget that day.
Thank you for returning my license and many thanks for searching for me.

Regards,
Marina Averbukh, AON Risk Services

Less than 1% of the paper that rained down 11 years ago today.
What other stories are contained in this tiny pile? - Mel