So I’ve mentioned before that I’ve worked tons of jobs during my tenure in the city. The first of my illustrious career as a temp/waitress was as the receptionist of a downtown commercial photography company called AlterImage. AI had mostly male employees, so I’m afraid that I got away with quite a bit…considering I got the job through a photo shoot I did (for Kahlua, I think – yes, I was running down the beach with a guy but no, my body did not look like THAT – God bless retouching), I pretty much rolled on my own time. But they were good to me and when I got laid off a year later (gasp – for not having any photography experience!) they sent me on my way with a nice severance. What I will remember most about AI, and what I was lucky to have in a sort-of work family, was support during one of the saddest days in our country’s history, September 11th, 2001. It was at AlterImage that I witnessed those events, frozen in front of the client lounge TV with my co-workers. I used to ride the Halsted bus to the west loop, 45 minutes approximately, and that morning I had my headphones on, as was usual – listening to Mancow in the Mornings (sort of a poor man’s Howard Stern) – and I’m sure I was zoned out because I vaguely remember the mention of planes and the World Trade Center, but didn’t give it much thought until I set my stuff down on my desk and got the lounge stocked for client meetings and lunches, as I did every morning. I turned on the TV, and it was then that I realized Matt Lauer was talking about something more serious than I had anticipated.To say that I was scared would be an understatement. What was I, 22 or 23? Family spread apart all over the country, friends in NYC…Phone lines where jammed, my co-worker Jackie was sobbing (her parents lived in Manhattan), and I was desperately trying to get a hold of Court, (who incidentally WORKED in the loop) so that we could figure out a meeting place. When the mass downtown exodus happened, my co-workers and I were west enough to get home pretty quickly, and when I did hook up with C we spent the afternoon and evening with our girlfriends, eating bologna sandwiches and trying to process the absoluteness of what had happened.All I really remember about the weeks following was being glued to the TV with Court and watching Peter Jennings (God bless him) 24-7. He would literally be collapsing with exhaustion before he let someone relieve him…and we got really attached to this man…this man who we hoped would bring us good news. We sat on our front porch with lighters, in a grass-roots memorial to the fallen Americans. We cried. We prayed. President Bush was my hero. I spent hours on the phone with my Dad, talking through Revelations and Christ’s return. It was an intense and terribly frightening time.So, when I drove past AlterImage this past week, the memory of 9/11 washed over me like water. Who’s to say if the landscape of downtown Chicago would have changed that day as well? Living in constant fear those first few weeks was something I will never forget. This picture reminds me of what we’ve lost and what we are still blessed to have.