"BROOKLYN-I was in a deep sleep, cocooned in my snug twin bed after tiptoeing into it just before dawn, when the house phone blared. Inside my family's Flatbush apartment, my beeper was vibrating somewhere in that junior bedroom too. Seconds later, I heard the apartment door open and slam shut quickly. Then, my father's voice was heard as he walked quickly from room to room. He got to my room, but I kept my eyes closed as he whisper-shouted in Kreyol, almost fretting."
"Once I finally realized what he was saying, flashes of me at the World Financial Center skidded to the forefront of my skull. There's me inside Tower 2, twice a week at 6 a.m., taking an ear-popping elevator ride up to a floor in the sky, to cold call registered voters at that ungodly hour about the upcoming city elections. As per my script, I reminded them to vote on Election Day: Tuesday, September 11th, 2001."
"There I am working or having lunch with a group of fellow JP Morgan Chase interns. There's me in high school and college, rushing with everyone else, as I visited the gold vault at the Federal Reserve Bank, offices of the Wall Street Journal or Crain's, sitting on the steps of Chase Manhattan Plaza, and buying that hat or umbrella from a sidewalk vendor."
She was sleeping in her Brooklyn Flatbush apartment when family members woke her with urgent Kreyol warnings. Memories of time spent at the World Financial Center flashed into her mind, including twice-weekly early-morning internships inside Tower 2 cold-calling registered voters and reminding them to vote on September 11, 2001. She pictured working and eating lunch with JP Morgan Chase interns and visiting financial landmarks such as the Federal Reserve gold vault, the Wall Street Journal offices and Chase Manhattan Plaza. The sudden realization of near-miss vulnerability left her jittery and aware that the attackers would not have targeted only citizens. Those moments prompted a decision to seek U.S. citizenship.
Read at The Haitian Times
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