The eyes of 9/11/01

Tammy Banks

I was so proud of Benji. He graduated High School as a honor student, got into a great college, has a wife, and was pilot. And today, I was visiting his family in New York. I left Cincinnati at 6:00am to get to the airport, and then I arrived in New York at 8:00am. I reached Benji's house around 8:25am on September 11th, 2001. I was set to stay at Benji's home with his wife for a week, while Benji was working. Benji worked hard long shifts and barely came home and when he did, he was mostly sleeping. I was happy to be able to spend time with his wife, Cami, who was seven and a half months pregnant at the time. "Hello Cami!" I said. "Hello mom. How are you?" Cami asked me. "I'm doing fine. How are you?" I asked her. "I'm doing okay." She said back. "Please come in."
Benji and Cami's home was very nice. They had an open concept first floor and a nice second floor. Perfect for a growing family. "Let me show you to your room." Cami said to me. "Sure!" I said. Cami lead me to a medium sized room which consisted of a queen sized bed and a dresser. I immediately started to unpack. I placed my pants in the last drawer, my shirts in the middle drawer with my pajamas, and I put my undergarments in the top drawer. When I finished unpacking, I went downstairs to see if Cami needed help with anything. "Cami, do you need my help with breakfast?" I asked her when I spotted Cami cutting up green peppers for omelets. "That would be lovely Mom. Thank you so much. Can you wash the dishes?" She asked me. "Sure honey," I answered. I began to wash the dishes. Directly above the sink was a magnificent view of the two twin towers. It was absolutely stunning. I finished the dishes around 8:43am. Cami had also finished cooking the omelets, and began to set the table. I sat down. When Cami joined me, I started to eat. That's when my phone started to buzz. I normally didn't pick up my phone, especially if it was during a meal, but when I saw that it was Benji, I immediately picked it up.