My first job when I finished university was with an American inv
estment bank. I must have been mad going into banking, but the promise of a five month training programme in New York City was a big factor in my choice of job.
The night we arrived we were put up in The Vista Hotel (which became the Marriott) in the World Trade Center complex. I remember clearly craning my neck to look up at the Twin Towers and thinking that I really had arrived.
The following day I was taken to my corporate apartment on 33rd and Third – with a fabulous view downtown – and thus began an intense but wonderful summer in New York.
I went back several times after that, but since that day five years ago (when the Marriott hotel was also completely destroyed) I haven’t really had the heart to.
But I still really ‘heart’ New York.
It’s understandable. Sometimes the memories will always remain all these years, but I hope whatever has happened, no matter how painful, is slowly healing. I believe people are moving on, which is a good thing. Let’s just remember, though, the lessons we learned.