SOME RISKS JUST NEED TO BE TAKEN.

Byline: Gordon Rich Local View

JUST days after the anniversary of the Twin Towers disaster, my wife and I will be attending the wedding of our niece in New York.

When I started to make arrangements to attend Nicole's wedding, my wife informed me that she ``would not fly, especially to New York.''

I pointed out that (as I'd heard but really had no statistics to back it up) that air travel was much safer than train travel. She countered with ``If a train crashes, some people might lose their lives, but in a plane crash it is unlikely that anyone will survive.''

It was hard to argue. Statistics show that accidents are fewer on planes, but that the likelihood of dying in those rare occurrences is very high.

Spending $1,500 for a berth and traveling alone for three days each way did not matter to my wife. My flight cost me $300 and will get me there the same day.

Little inconveniences, greater expenses and gladly relinquishing freedoms for security are some examples of how our lives have changed.

My niece witnessed the first jet as it crashed into the Twin Towers. She took the elevator to the birds-eye viewing area on her office building to see what she and her co-workers first believed was a tragic accident.

From her office vantage point, Nicole and her co-workers watched in disbelief as the second plane crashed in a ball of flames.

In an e-mail to family and friends two days later, she described the events:

``We were close enough to see the shattered glass flying and actually landing on the smaller buildings. We were all dumbfounded and then the buildings began to shed layers, and we began looking through the telescopes (which are set up around the building for employees to enjoy the beautiful views) and I could not believe my eyes! I was actually watching people leaping from the windows to their deaths!

``I could see one woman waving a white towel or some sort of cloth and screaming for help and when no one heard her, she simply leapt out the window to escape the burning building.

``I could not keep watching.

``Our office informed (us) that the city was on lock down therefore they were securing hotel rooms for those of us who do not live in Manhattan. We were all scared.

``About an hour later the police came and told us that the Brooklyn Bridge and Triboro Bridge to Queens were open for foot traffic, but those were the only two options to leave the city. That was good enough for me!

``I started walking. There was soot and office papers covering everywhere and the layers of ashes made the city appear as if there had been a blizzard - it was so eerie. They gave us surgical masks and water as we got closer to the WTC - I felt like I was in a war zone.

``When I finally made it home I kissed the floor of my apartment - and then sat down and cried.

``In my whole life I never thought I would ever experience - from my window - hundreds or thousands of people losing their lives.''

Since that time, almost one year ago, numerous programs, charity functions and ongoing events have been conducted in an attempt to heal and to bring the people of New York closer together, along with the rest of the nation.

Unlike any tragedy in the past, this affected all of us, as though (due to live television coverage) we had experienced the tragedy, first-hand too.

The whole world had been altered by what had occurred on Sept. 11. That number will always be associated with these events.

Some airlines have reduced their flights on Sept. 11 and some of those that will fly have offered free flights to New York.

One thing that hasn't changed - the power of love. Love's power unites, strengthens, comforts and allows life to go on.

Nicole ended her e-mail shortly after Sept. 11, ``... (It was) four hours until I crossed the Brooklyn Bridge where they had emergency vehicles set up to take us farther into Brooklyn. On the way to the bridge I saw New Yorkers in a different light.

``People opened their homes to pedestrians to come in and take a rest and eat something. There were stands on every corner offering water, shoe vendors were on the street offering free sneakers and every single hospital had lines around the block of people eager to donate blood.

``I felt so proud.

``So I thank you all for your concern and your prayers - and I ask you to keep the prayers coming - Jonathan has several friends who are firemen who have not been accounted for yet.''