[Granny Bear]

I had recently been to NYC to visit one of our offices caddy corner to WTC 2 in the 1 Financial building. We had over 1,000 employees in 1 Financial. I stayed in the WTC 2 Marriott, and what I remembered from walking from WTC 2 to WTC 1 was a sign that indicated we had offices in WTC 1!

Two months later, I was golfing with a friend at Legendary Run golf course in Cincinnati. We just made the turn and stopped into the Club House. While in the club house for drink and food, there were several watching the proceedings on the television. It was described to us that a plane had crashed into the WTC building. We were watching for maybe five minutes when the 2nd plane hit! A wave of shock went through all of us! We knew right then that it was not an accident, but something was WRONG and this was a threat to us all.

My immediate thoughts were to all of those that I knew in the 1 Financial building, but quickly turned to those in what I thought were our employees in WTC 1. I learned later that we had vacated the offices in WTC 1 a few months earlier (before my visit to NYC), but at the time, I was sick thinking that we had employees in that building.

All in all, we did lose one employee (not anyone that I knew) who was in WTC 2. Our offices in 1 Financial was cleared and everyone got out safely, but when the WTCbuildings came down, the force of the fall destroyed the fronts of the surrounding buildings. We never did return and now have our offices directly across the River in New Jersey.

Though I had been to NYC over a dozen times, staying in WTC Marriott each time, I have not been back since!

Being involved in a similiar business, I received three IRA transfer requests within a month that all had companies with the WTC addresses on them as holding trustees.

Really made me stop and take stock of everything from the hurt that I witnessed on the face of strangers to my family and ALL those things that are really important.

Thank you guys, for sharing your stories.