I was living in New Jersey with my boyfriend when 9/11 happened. I'm a native Vermonter and had moved to New Jersey about two years prior. My boyfriend's brother worked for Cantor Fitzgerald on the 105th floor of the second tower. I remember the day crystal clear. It was a beautiful blue sky day and I had the day off. I remember the phone ringing and the mother-in-law of my boyfriend's brother was on the line. She wondered if I could come to my boyfriend's brother's house because something had happened with a plane hitting the towers. I had no idea what she was talking about but she told me I should pick up my boyfriend on the way there. He was on a community college campus nearby. We got to my boyfriend's brother's house. He had just returned to work that day because he and his wife had just had their second child. I remember his wife being in a bedroom screaming and crying on the phone trying to reach him. Their four year old son was watching TV, and the baby was in grandmother's arms. I remember going into another room and watching the second tower collapse. I just felt like time stood still and I didn't know how my boyfriend's brother would survive. Family started arriving and the house filled up. Every time the phone rang we hoped that maybe it would be Jimmy. My boyfriend was getting pretty emotional worrying about his older brother. He said he wanted to go surfing because his brother taught him how to and he just didn't know how to deal with what was happening. So we went out to Sandy Hook and my boyfriend surfed. The towers were smoking in the background and the day remained clear and blue. It was all unbelievable. My boyfriend's brother Jimmy was in his mid-thirties, a wonderful kind caring man and father. It just seemed so unfathomable that someone could be erased from the earth in an instant. As time went on I eventually broke up with my boyfriend from New Jersey. The years went by and I married someone else. We took life by the reins and traveled by bicycle for about two years. I think going through 9/11 made me realize that I just needed to go for it, any adventures I wanted to take I just needed to make it happen. Now my husband and I have a 6-year-old and we try to live an adventurous life no matter what. Every day is a gift, every day is a gift.

Debi Waters