Roy Peter Clark: When I learned that a jet plane had hit one of the Twin Towers — even before we knew it was terrorism — I thought of my cousin Theresa, who worked on the 57th floor of Tower One. It took some time to learn that she had escaped. The next day, or it may have been the day after that, I got Theresa on the phone and she told me her story.

It was unimaginable that any person — especially my dear younger cousin, my mother’s goddaughter — should experience such a thing. But at least she had escaped, when so many others would be lost. What was it like to be in that tower that day? Here is the story she told me. I shared it 20 years ago. And I am sharing it again.