The two things that I will never forget are the smells and the confusion. 
I remember trying to call my mother that morning, who was in Maimonides Hospital, which is across the East River, roughly 6-7 miles from the Twin Towers and with an absolutely beautiful view of them. When we would visit her at night, it was an amazing sight.
I remember trying to call my friend Marie Percoco Vola, who worked at Aon Risk in the South Tower.
I remember trying to call my Aunt Catherine to see if my cousin Michael was okay He was a firefighter whose station was on the Lower East Side, just a few miles from the towers.
The phone lines were down so I couldn’t reach anyone. So much confusion and helplessness.
My husband left work, after watching the towers crumble from the roof of where he worked, staring in disbelief with his co-workers. As they fell, paperwork and photos blew across and landed on the roof where they were standing.
He came straight home and as he ran up the stairs his words will haunt me forever, “We’re being attacked”.
We went to the hospital to see if my mother was okay since we couldn’t call her. She, along with some of the medical staff had witnessed the horror firsthand from her hospital window. She was distraught and being in the hospital made it harder and risky for her with the heart condition she had. The doctors kept a close eye on her.
I finally got through to Aunt Catherine and was relieved my cousin he had taken the day off, although most of his brothers from his ladder company lost their lives since they were one of the first on the scene.
I never got hold of Marie. Billy and I went to her house after leaving the hospital on the chance she didn’t go to work that day. We rang her bell but a neighbor said she saw her walking towards the train that morning.
Billy and I went to her house after leaving the hospital on the chance she didn’t go to work that day. We rang her bell but a neighbor said she saw her walking towards the train that morning. It was a beautiful night on the 10th and we slept with our windows open. When we returned home Billy noticed a very thin layer of dust on our furniture. I had noticed it earlier but didn’t think anything of it. A reminder of the horror that day.
We started thinking of who else we knew that worked there and I remembered Rita, who worked in the north tower. She was a member of my exercise studio, New York Dance & Fitness, where Marie was also an instructor. Rita was one of a kind. She was funny, friendly, and outgoing. We joked and laughed all the time. She and my husband used to try and one-up each other. Such a devastating loss for her family and children.
We remembered an acquaintance who lived on our block. And there were others. One of my fellow dance teachers (Gail, from The Brooklyn Dance Center) was worried about her friend whose job it was to take care of the broadcast antenna on top of the north tower. She was sure he would be safe if he stayed there.
The next day, we were able to drive into Manhattan and went to Times Square. It was a surreal experience. We just stood there reading the ticker tape as they updated the death count. I have been to Times Square so many times and never experienced it like I did that day.
Then we headed back into Brooklyn and went to the Brooklyn Promenade, where we had looked at the amazing view of the Twin Towers countless times. Now, there was just smoke and a huge gap in the skyline where they once stood. We stood there for a while along with other people. It was uncommonly quiet. Some people were just staring in disbelief. I saw a man vomit. I saw people crying. Someone was drawing the scene on a sketchbook. And the smell is something I will never forget.
Marie’s family had a memorial service for her because her body had not been located. I spoke to her sister Tilly (who I would love to reconnect with) and she told me of their last phone call that morning. It was chilling. She said Marie told her they couldn’t breathe and they were dying. She also told me how much Marie loved me and that the best part of her day was when she came to teach at my studio after working in the office all day. Getting to meet her family and friends was something I treasure and I was able to tell them that I will never forget her smiling face. I still have my work phone book with her number in it.
We found out about Vernon Cherry, a firefighter who was the cousin of Billy’s co-worker. His truck, Ladder 118 was photographed as they crossed the Brooklyn Bridge and on the front page of the Daily News. They never made it back. We were honored to be invited to this hero’s funeral service.
This is a copy of the Daily News cover with heroes Vernon Cherry and his co-workers, making their final call across the Brooklyn Bridge.
Over the next couple of weeks, we attended more police and firefighter memorial services and funerals than I had in my entire life combined. Our amazing Mayor Guliani asked New Yorkers to attend funerals and services because he couldn’t attend all of them, which he would have normally done. There were so many being held each day, across the boroughs. We made sure to personally speak to each family and offer our condolences.
About three weeks later, they found Marie and her family had a funeral for her body, which we were invited to attend.
My husband volunteered to clean up without a moment’s hesitation. First, with his job at the time, at Home Depot they dug through rubble, concrete, and debris using countless orange buckets. When Home Depot finished, he felt pulled to volunteer with the Red Cross because he couldn’t move forward without feeling like he helped all he could. He came home sad, helpless, and unable to talk about what he was seeing.
I have some photos that I took that day and in the days that followed and I will share them in the post at some time.
Please keep the families of these innocent victims in your prayers, today, and always.
#NeverForget New York’s Bravest (NYPD)
#NeverForget New York’s Finest (FDNY)
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– Marie Vola Percoco was one of the sweetest people I have ever met. She was one of the fitness instructors at my studio, The New York Dance & Fitness Center on Bath Ave. in Brooklyn. From the moment I hired her, I loved her. You couldn’t help it. She was soft-spoken, except when she was kicking member’s butts in her class. She taught a high-impact aerobics class on Thursday night and one of our most popular classes, a Saturday morning walking class along the Verrazzano Bridge. She would come straight from her job at AON Corp in the South Tower to teach her Thursday class and if the trains were on time, she would be early and while we waited for members to come in, we would talk about this and that. She liked to crochet tissue box covers and I’m so grateful she made one for me. Her smile lit up the room, she never had a bad word to say about anyone and she was a beautiful person inside and out. I would love to reconnect with Marie’s sister Tilly. If anyone knows her please let me know. I don’t know if Tilly is short for her real name and her last name would be Vola, unless she married and changed it.
–– Rita Blau was a member of my exercise studio and took Marie’s class often. When you say that someone is a pisser, that was Rita. If she was in one of my classes, I knew it would be a good time with lots of laughing. That’s how she was. When Rita walked into the studio, you knew it! She was outgoing, ballsy, and funny as hell. She would get there a little early and we would talk with the other members and staff. She and my husband used to trade one-liners, trying to outdo each other. Rita always reminded me of someone who would have been in my family because she had a warm, friendliness about her. She worked in the North Tower at Fiduciary Trust.
– Rita Blau was a member of my exercise studio and took Marie’s class often. When you say that someone is a pisser, that was Rita. If she was in one of my classes, I knew it would be a good time with lots of laughing. That’s how she was. When Rita walked into the studio, you knew it! She was outgoing, ballsy, and funny as hell. She would get there a little early and we would talk with the other members and staff. She and my husband used to trade one-liners, trying to outdo each other. Rita always reminded me of someone who would have been in my family because she had a warm, friendliness about her. She worked in the North Tower at Fiduciary Trust.
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