On 11 September, I was living in Greenwich Village, New York; my children learned to tell south from north by looking at the World Trade Center.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
When I grew up, I was in Manhattan the whole time. But my kids have been all over the world.
Unfortunately I was in New York when 9/11 happened.
I try to remember what it was like to be a kid in New York. I lived in different parts of my childhood in Manhattan on the Upper West Side, where 'When You Reach Me' is set, and also in the Midwood section of Brooklyn.
I wanted to experience New York, to look up and see buildings.
Whenever I left New York, the Twin Towers welcomed me back in. It was a symbol of my city - the most unique city in the world, so when I moved to Virginia and later to Maryland, it meant even more.
I grew up in the Lower East Side of New York.
I was in New York on September 11 when those planes hit the World Trade Center. At the time, it seemed like it was a local thing. But three or four days later, by the time we drove across the country in the bus, we realized it wasn't a local thing. You could really feel the states become united. We became the United States of America.
Fortunately, I happened to go east at a time when live television was centered in New York.
On the morning of September 11th, I was literally about 18 blocks from the World Trade Center. I witnessed in person what a lot of people witnessed in person, but what the world really saw on the television screen, I saw it with my own eyes that morning.
I grew up in Manhattan on the Upper East Side.