9/11 20 years later: Paul Hans, Amsterdam - Sorrow ... then joy

PHOTOGRAPHER: Stan Hudy

Paul Hans holds up the sonogram of his son, Philip, inside his home on Truax Road. The sonogram was taken in the afternoon of 9/11.

I first heard about the Sept. 11 attacks while at work. A co-worker walked into my office and said a Piper Cub airplane had just crashed into the World Trade Center.

I logged onto the internet and saw pictures of the first tower on fire. I remember thinking, “That’s an awful lot of smoke for a small aircraft.”

As we were watching the newsfeed, we saw the second plane come in, and at that point we knew this was no small, random accident.

We continued to watch in horror as the two towers came down. I have such bittersweet memories of that day. The sadness of that morning turned into a joyous afternoon for me. I accompanied my wife to her obstetrician appointment that day, and it was the first time I saw my son on an ultrasound.

Philip was born four and a half months later.

-Paul Hans, Amsterdam

More Remembrances: We remember; The Daily Gazette’s special Sept. 11 anniversary section