\u00a0(The Center Square) \u2013 \u201cAt times, it seems like ages ago. But whenever you start recalling that day, it seems like yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Time collapses for Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello, 67, a native New Yorker and now a chaplain for the New York City Fire Department, as he looks back to Sept. 11, 2001, and the hours he spent at Ground Zero that day.<\/p>\n
For more than 30 years, Gigantiello has worked as a minister in the boroughs of New York. On that day, he blessed the body of 9\/11\u2019s first recorded victim and then-FDNY Chaplain, Father Mychal Judge.<\/p>\n
At first, Gigantiello stopped at a triage center near Police Plaza before making his way closer to the site.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember then walking about an hour later down actually to Ground Zero,\u201d Gigantiello said. \u201cAnd there was a church there, St. Peter\u2019s Church, and I went into the church to say a prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a police officer, a firefighter in there, and he said, \u2018Father Judge, who was the fire chaplain, he got killed, and his body was on the altar,\u2019\u201d Gigantiello said. \u201cAnd I actually blessed his body.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wendy Lanski, 56, a corporate executive who worked in One World Trade Center at the time, also remarked on the way memories from that day can still feel near.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard. I mean, 25 years later, you know, sometimes it feels like a long time. Sometimes it feels like yesterday,\u201d Lanski said. \u201cI can remember the sights, the smells, the sounds \u2014 just the feeling of walking into my apartment at the time and being like, \u2018Jesus, you know, I went to work on a regular Tuesday. I’m a corporate girl. Like, I don’t have some risky job.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Lanski worked on the 29th floor of the north tower, the first tower struck that day. She lost one of her best friends on Sept. 11, Abraham Zelmanowitz, because he wouldn\u2019t leave his wheelchair-bound friend behind.<\/p>\n
Ken Corrigan, 59, a 16-year volunteer firefighter from the Bronx, not only survived Sept. 11 but also the World Trade Center bombing in 1993.<\/p>\n
Twenty-five years later, Corrigan is still losing friends to 9\/11.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy friend Mike Hayes \u2014 \u2018Whisk\u2019 \u2014\u201d Corrigan said, his voice breaking. \u201cHe was an ironworker. He helped clear out the debris. I had no idea that he had been down there for a long time, along with a lot of other friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
Corrigan\u2019s thoughts turned to others he had known.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll these people dying. A good part of those guys were friends of mine that I grew up with,\u201d Corrigan said. \u201cDied of cancer \u2026 Guys that were on the piles for months.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lanski and Corrigan met Friday outside O\u2019Hara\u2019s Pub for the first time, just down the street from FDNY Ten House and Ground Zero. The pub was severely damaged in the attacks, but after reopening, it quickly became a watering hole for first responders still working at the site. It has since become a gathering place for those who come to remember 9\/11. Corrigan asked Lanski about her story.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018I\u2019m a survivor.\u2019 He\u2019s like, \u2018I was buried in rubble.\u2019 And we just started talking. That\u2019s what happens,\u201d Lanski said, describing the instant connections that can happen between people who lived through 9\/11.<\/p>\n
Lanski has tried going to counseling as a means of processing her grief and experiences, but it hasn\u2019t always worked for her.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy company at the time sort of mandated us to go for counseling, and I tried it,\u201d Lanski said, \u201cbut there was no precedent in the United States for terrorism [at the time], so I would start telling my story, and the counselors would cry, and then I’d feel guilty, and I’d clam up and not talk. So it was kind of counterproductive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both Corrigan and Lanski said they have found solace in talking about their experiences with others \u2014 whether fellow survivors, first responders or simply people willing to listen.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy therapy over the 25 years has been this: telling people who care, getting education out there,\u201d Lanski said.<\/p>\n
Among the memories that have stayed most vivid for Gigantiello is an encounter with a woman in the triage center. He remembers everyone being covered in soot.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember a woman coming up to me, and I just cleaned off her face, and I said, \u2018Are you OK?\u2019 And she says, \u2018I just need a hug,\u2019\u201d Gigantiello said. \u201cAnd for about 30 seconds, we just embraced. We said nothing… that really sticks in my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0(The Center Square) \u2013 \u201cAt times, it seems like ages ago. But whenever you start recalling that day,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":345860,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[531,9,24,55,54,1411,56,308],"class_list":["post-345859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-national","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-new_york","tag-ny","tag-public-safety"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}