"Letter from New York" by Peter Carey

In a "Letter from New York" by Peter Carey, Carey recalls his personal encounter of the attacks of the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. At the moment when the World Trade Centre was attacked, Carey was at a corner deli, when he suddenly noticed that the radio had been turned up rather loud. However, as Carey listened he soon realized that he was living through history, because the World Trade Centre had just collapsed. The first thing that went through Peter's mind was his wife. Peter waited in fear by the phone, just praying that his wife was safe. However, soon Bea, his neighbor, confirmed her safety. Peter was not the only New Yorker that day fearing the loss of a loved one. There were people everywhere in tears. MaryAnn, another one of Peter's neighbors, was also waiting to hear from her husband Lloyd, but later she realized that he had survived. In a time of disaster, such as 9/11, people were there for each other, it did not matter about the little things that had divided them previously, for at that moment, people just wanted to help. For example, Carey tells of his friend Betsey who was trying to get from Manhattan to Brooklyn by the expressway, but it remained closed, so Betsey started to wander through the streets, when she encountered a Jew in East New York who lead her to her hometown. There were also firefighters, and huge machinery trying to remove the destruction in order to perhaps save the lives of those who remained undiscovered.The children in Manhattan who had seen the attacks feared that their parents were dead. And parents were running everywhere to get there kids. Carey describes how John the husband of Bea, went all the way to Brooklyn Heights to pick up his little girl Leah. A sense of insanity was going through everyone's mind. People like John were going to the extreme.Like Peter, several people in New York were scared, and prayed that their families and friends had survived the traumatic terrorist attack. However unlike Peter, some people were not as lucky. For instance Peter's friend David, had lost his friend who just had a new baby.Peter's reaction to this was one of violence; he felt as if he wanted to murder those people that caused so much sorrow towards innocent families. However, it was his son Sam that made him realize how much he loved to say, " I am from New York."
As a student who lived through 9/11, I remember just like Peter where I was at when the World Trade Centre and Pentagon were attacked. I was in 6th grade in Math Class in my teacher Mrs. Alfred's room. I was not affected as much as those who remained in New York, but as a United States citizen, I felt so sorry for all those families that loss a loved one. The vivid descriptions that Peter Carey provided allowed me to imagine exactly what happened on September 11th. It made me appreciate my country, because not all countries can say that in a time of destruction they were a union of one. People, such as firefighters were wiling to risk their lives for the lives of those suffering.This article besides being very informative was very emotional, because I knew that this was not just another fairy tale in a storybook. It really happened. Through Peter's words, visual images popped into my mind, of people jumping off buildings, and people crying horrendously, just wishing everything could go back to the way it started before the attack. Peter's story about his family was so similar to all the other families. Everybody had been panicking immensely. The article was so touching and aspiring. The purpose of Peter Carey's article was to inform the reader about what actually happened during 9/11. He showed how in times of destruction our nation worked as a team, rather than alone. I think that 9/11 made our country so much stronger and appreciative of the people around us. Often times, we take advantage of the little things, and then before you know it, they are gone, and we can no longer get them back!