Covenant News

Covenanter Recalls Horror of Trade Center Collapse

CHICAGO, IL (September 25, 2001) - The wife of the Oakdale Covenant Church pastor was a few blocks away from the World Trade Center on September 11 and watched in horror as both towers of the building collapsed.

Cherise Griffin was on her way to an advertising photography session at Jane Street Studios, some 12 blocks away from the World Trade Center, when the terrorist attacks began. "We could see everything," said Griffin, who is the lip care category manager for Blistex, Inc., in Oak Brook, Illinois. "I got out of the taxicab and looked up and the second plane was exploding (into the World Trade Center). And we were standing outside of the studio when one of the towers fell."

After watching the plane hit the World Trade Center, Griffin went into the studios and called her husband, pastor Darrell Griffin of Oakdale Covenant Church in. By then, studio representatives were asking people in the building to evacuate. Griffin said that when she left the building, she looked up and saw the second tower collapsing. "We were getting a little nervous at this time," she said. "I just wanted to get out of the area. But they were stopping all traffic and I had to walk back to my hotel - 67 blocks. To be honest, my thoughts were of disbelief and we were really scared. And then we just wanted to get home."

During the afternoon, Griffin tried to comfort a staff member whose wife was in their apartment two blocks from the World Trade Center. Griffin called off the advertising session later that afternoon. A day later, Griffin took a train to Philadelphia to visit family members and eventually took a train to Chicago, arriving home September 14.

"I'm still trying to get over the shock of it all and I'm very nervous about flying," said Griffin. "It brings everything home and makes you realize what's important. It makes you realize how important your family is to you."

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