Donald Jodice can’t help but recall that fateful day every time the 11th day of each month rolls around.
“Every month, when I would see that 11 on the calendar, I would be forced to look back,” said Jodice, a lifelong Weehawken resident, last week. “I just knew that the six-month date was coming up.”
In the six months since the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center last Sept. 11, Jodice has tried to cope with the pain that he has had to endure during his harrowing escape from the 88th floor of Tower One – all on an artificial leg.
“I think it has definitely changed me and the way I look at things,” said Jodice, who was at work in the real estate office for The Port Authority when the first plane hit. “I became even more of an emotional person. I definitely wear my heart on my sleeve. My friends tell me that’s why I’m a bad poker player. But I am more emotional now. What you once thought of as being a bad situation, you now take with a grain of salt.”
Jodice somehow managed to survive the tragedy by getting down the stairwell, then dodging the debris and mayhem in the streets as both towers collapsed. He made his way to midtown Manhattan and took the ferry across the river. It took him seven hours to return to his Maple Street home.
He said the images he had of the tragedy will never go away.
“It was tough right away,” Jodice said. “At work, the Port Authority was so directly affected. We lost a lot of friends that I worked with. There were all sorts of memorials in the building. As the Port Authority tried to go on with its business, there were the constant reminders every day of what happened.”
Jodice was part of the PA’s company video, where employees were asked to relive their horror stories of that fateful day. Not many got out of either building on a floor as high as the 88th floor.
Jodice had other constant reminders.
“I would see somebody who I hadn’t seen in a while,” Jodice said. “And I would have to go over it again. I was always going over it. It was weird. Two or three weeks later, I would remember something else of that day that I had forgotten about. I remember more details, different situations. Even today, I still remember a little bit more each day.”
Jodice said that he has tried his best to deal with the emotional scars.
“It affects people in different ways,” Jodice said. “Some become more emotional about things. Others are able to walk around like nothing happened and they seem fine, but they are different when they go home to be with their families. It’s different for everyone. It was tough for me. I take it one day at a time. Each day, it gets a little easier and I relive it less. But sometimes, it’s just as painful as when it happened.”
Added Jodice, “Someone told me that the pain becomes less frequent after a while. But it’s six months and it’s just as powerful as the first day.”
Jodice said that he was able to journey back to Ground Zero and examine the destruction where he once worked.
“A friend of mine works at the control center and he asked me if I was interested in seeing it,” Jodice said. “I felt like I had to see it, to get a sense of closure. I went over and was right in the middle of it. And it’s just like they say. The photographs don’t do it justice. It was overwhelming. I was numb. I was also very intimidated, knowing that there were still thousands of people missing in that rubble.”
Jodice said that he has not returned to the site since that first visit.
“I think I want to go back with Rosie [his wife, Rosemarie] and maybe retrace some of the steps,” Jodice said. “Maybe it will bring back some of the things I don’t remember. Rosie wants to go. She wants to understand it more.”
Saw the lights
Jodice said that he hasn’t often looked over at where the Twin Towers stood, but he did journey with his wife to the Weehawken waterfront last Monday night to see the Towers of Light exhibit shine across the Hudson.
“I was able to look for a while, maybe an hour or so,” Jodice said. “I spent the time reflecting, thinking of all my friends and everyone who died over there. This was their tribute.”
Jodice said that he was getting a little tired of telling his story over and over.
“When people ask me whether I was there, then I tell them, they all have that same look of astonishment,” Jodice said. “They all know that there weren’t many who made it out from where I was. I count my blessings every day and I never take anything for granted anymore.”
Jodice made some changes in his life. Last week, he announced his retirement from coaching in the Weehawken Babe Ruth and Bambino baseball leagues after 25 years.
“I just wanted to spend my time watching my kids [daughter Rianne and son Chris] play this year,” Jodice said. “That was the primary reason. And I just thought it was time. I was beginning to lose patience with some of the kids. But after Sept. 11, that put the icing on it. I had to do things for me.”
Jodice was honored by the league last week at an awards dinner. He received an engraved bat and a plaque for his years of service. Long-time friends and fellow coaches Joe Light and Billy Kallert presented Jodice with the plaque.
Jodice said that he was very interested to see what the CBS documentary “9/11” had to offer.
“I watched most of it,” Jodice said. “It was very difficult for all of us to see it. I really wanted to know what was going on outside while I was trying to get out. It was interesting, but I did get emotional.”
Jodice said that he has learned to appreciate his life with his wife and three children [younger daughter Sheana].
“I am lucky to have a great family that supports me,” Jodice said. “If I had no one around me, I would be in a lot of trouble. Rosie is always there. She has a feel of what I’m going through and she’s fighting her own battles with it. The kids are more resilient.”
Jodice said that he was also helped by the support of good friends.
“I never talked to my friend Chuck Barone about his experiences in Vietnam,” Jodice said. “It’s never come up. But a couple days after Sept. 11, Chuck came over to the house and we talked about what I went through and what he went through in Vietnam. He told me he knew what I was going through. And he was right.”
Added Jodice, “I will never take anything for granted ever again. I’m here. There are a lot of other people who can’t say that.”