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BEVEVIBERING 977 “We thought it was armageddon, we didn’t know what would happen next. Would they bomb the bridge? We watched in fear,” she says, still possessing a look of terror in her eyes as if the event had just happened. “The worst scenarios run through your head.” Suddenly, Heather and her co-workers felt the earth move as the towers collapsed. Bracing for the worst, Heather says they all stood together in a circle, holding hands. When they were finally given the ‘okay’ to leave, Heather and her roommate joined the mobs of people on the city streets. “It looked like a mole run,” she says. Some people were screaming, some were crying, others were stopping to try and get a picture. With nothing to do but start the long walk home, Heather made her way to the Brooklyn Bridge for what she described earlier as the most moving, touching and vivid experi- ence of her “After it happened some people needed to get away — but | thought if you're running — they're are winning. You have to face that demon.” Heather Knopp life. After the event, it took a long time for Heather to be emotion- age. “It was too much, I was trying to heal, we all deal with it in our own way,” she explains, adding that the attacks not only affected her emotionally, but also changed the way she lived in the city. “I wouldn’t go on the subway; I would only ride my bike,” she says. “I had to be in control, I never wanted to feel trapped.” Although Heather was initially reluctant to watch any coverage, she did head back to the site of the event only a few days later. After witnessing the suffering, but also the compassion felt by her fellow New Yorkers, she just had to go back. “If you don’t, you're not human,” she says simply. “After it all happened, some people needed to get out, to get away,” she adds. “But I thought, if you’re running, they’re winning. You have to face that demon, go back to work, get back to a routine.” And that’s exactly what Heather did. Despite her family’s pleas for her to return home, she was determined to stay. She returned to work and tried to get back to her routine, despite the trauma, anxiety and heavy weight on her heart. She started a new job at Robert Lighton, a watch company, in 2003, managing the company’s advertising, marketing and promotion. She would stay there another four years before eventually deciding to move home to Port Perry to be with her family. “It was a life choice to come back, I wanted a new start,” Heather explains. “And it’s the best choice I made.” Her love for jewellery and experience working at Robert Lighton landed Heather a job at Dana’s Goldsmith- ing in town. Now, Heather has found herself a position she wholeheartedly enjoys at MTC, a manufacturing and technology centre in Whitby. “I’ve always loved jewellery and gadgets,” she says with a smile. Having come to terms with the event that forever changed her life, Heather says today she is a completely different person. “This whole experience taught me to be thankful for what you have in life. To never take anything for granted,” she says. She still keeps in touch with all her friends in New York via emailing and Facebook, which she says allows her to always feel close to her old life in New York. But she couldn’t be happier to be here in Port Perry, safe and close to the ones she loves. Another life lesson this experience has taught her: “Love everyone you have. We are meant to be on this planet for a reason, we need to find our purpose. Always try to help people and always know how lucky you are.” By Christina Coughlin Focus on Scugog Mari- nn Britt, pp ¢ Private Waiting Room Port Perry Fax: 905-982-2088 es ee) oe BI fe Your Smile Makeover Specialist ¢ Same Day Repairs & Relines 14500 Simcoe St., Unit 2 (McDonald's Plaza) 905-982-2087 CWI ¢Teeth Whitening ¢ Implant Retained Dentures ¢ Mouth Guards ¢ Full/Partial Dentures ¢ Permantly Retained Dentures FOCUS - SEPTEMBER 2011 37