9/11: That Tragic Day Taught a Cumming Resident How to Give Back

EDITOR'S NOTE: As part of Patch's coverage and commemoration, we have asked for you to share your 9/11 memories with us and how that tragic date has affected us all.

What follows are the thoughts and memories of Cory Coulter, a Cumming resident who was led down a path of giving back to the community after experiencing the tragic day of Sept. 11, 2001 in New York City.

"Sometimes it is hard to believe that it has been 10 years. I still remember that beautiful Tuesday morning. The sky was crystal clear. The temperature was perfect. I almost wanted to skip out of the training class I was going to that day.

The most striking image came at 10:28 a.m. that morning. I heard a small group of people gasp, "Oh my God!"

I ran to the corner where they were standing and looked south. In contrast to that beautiful blue sky, was a spiral of thick, black smoke, rising up from where the Twin Towers once stood. It was hard to believe that just an hour and 42 minutes earlier, at 8:46 a.m., I was sitting in a conference room on the 25th floor of what was the South Tower.

At the time, my biggest concern was finding a place to stay that night. The company apartment that I was staying in was across the river in Jersey City. The Path trains that brought me to New York were shut down. It was Fashion Week. All the hotels were booked solid and no one was checking out. My employer pulled off a miracle and found me what had to be the last available hotel room in Manhattan.

I had stayed in New York City several time before. New York is something to behold as it is “the city that never sleeps.” That night as I lay in bed, there was a quiet. This was not the quiet of a sleeping city. It was a very unnatural quiet that made it hard to fall asleep. I was awakened several times in the night by the rumbling of the subway--a noise that is usually drowned out by the rest of the city.

The next morning, I hopped the subway to the Path train and returned to the company apartment. It was good to get into a fresh change of clothes.

One of my co-workers was also there. He had a rental car. Once it was declared that the airports would not reopen, we hit the road and headed south. We spent the night in King Mountain, NC and made Atlanta by 11 a.m. Thursday.

At the time, I wasn't sure how I should feel. Almost 3,000 people died in front of me. No, they were murdered in front of me. I, however, was unharmed. Was it right for me to be happy? What should I do?

One thing I wanted to do was to celebrate my 39th birthday. Plans were made. Friends were invited. I wanted this to be about getting together with friends, and not about the gifts. So I asked them to bring a toy and I donated them to Toys for Tots. Fun was had by all and a few children got some neat toys.

This party got me thinking. I always wanted to have a big, blowout birthday party. So I started thinking about how I would go about that.

As September 11, 2002 approached, I started feel uneasy. Do I need closure? How do I get closure? Should I go back to New York? Visit Ground Zero?

I started to look into travel plans. Oh my! Air fares had gone up in price. This was not going to be cheap. The second week of September is still Fashion Week. I was not going to find a hotel room. The more I looked, the more I realized this trip was not going to happen. I was getting frustrated trying to plan my trip.

One day, I made a decision. I wanted to have a party. I need to stop thinking about this 9/11 stuff and work on the party. I talked with the owners of and they agreed to let me have the party there. I spoke with the Marine Corps. Arrangements were made to have Marines attend and to pick up the toys. I told my story to the Forsyth County News and ended up on the front cover of the Thanksgiving Day, 2002 edition. I was set.

The day of the party was cold and wet. When I arrived to set up, there were few cars in the parking lot. I thought that the party would be a bust. My perception was quickly changed when I stepped inside. There was already a nice pile of toys under the tree. People had seen the article in the paper and had been dropping off toys all day long. That continued throughout the party. The number of people who stayed was not as high as I had hoped. However, that pile of toys grew. A couple of the Marines present had been at a Toys for Tots event held by the Thrashers. Donate a toy, get a half price ticket. The Marines claimed that I had more toys than the Thrashers.

We did have a little trouble as the night wore on. The four Marines that attended had been pinned down by unfriendly fire. Four WWII vets, two Army, one Navy and one Air Force, had them corned. Shots were flying. Luckily it was Gator Juice, Swamp water, and several other alcoholic concoctions I had never heard of. Combined with stories of bravery and hi-jinks, it was quite the attack. In the end, the Marines held their ground. A truce was made. Fun was had by all.

By the end of the night, several people had asked if I was going to do this again the next year. I really hadn't thought about it, but it sounded like a good idea. When September 11, 2003 rolled around, I started to feel a little down again. I started focusing on the party.

It is now an annual event.

Over the years, I have added raffles, hot wing contests, a Santa Clause, a photographer and a T-shirt give away. In 2008, we collected over 1,000 toys. Toys for Tots at Rooster's Cafe is now the largest toy drive in North Atlanta.

The memories of September 11, 2001 do not bother me as much these days. As the 10th anniversary approaches, I am heavily involved in this year's party.  It is the 10th party after all. I have big plans for this year. Toys for Tots at Rooster's Cafe is now on Facebook. Pods Atlanta wants us to fill a 16 foot container. I am working on a Christmas Lights and music show with over 20,000 lights. Plus, Santa Clause wants to spend a day with the children, getting pictures taken and reading them stories.

I have not been back to New York since I left there on September 12, 2001, except for a brief layover and transfer from JFK to LaGuardia. One of these days... Maybe after they open the new WTC.

I have also never been to a 9/11 memorial service. Always seemed to be the wrong day, wrong time. Maybe this year. I will fly my flag and I will tie a black ribbon to the pole.

Sept. 11 did have a major impact on my life. It made me realize how fleeting life is. It made me look back over the first 39 years of my life and ask “What have I accomplished?” I decided that I was not going to dwell on the events of 9/11. Instead I would focus on something positive. It took me a couple of years to figure out what I could do.

Now I can look back at the last ten years and say “nice start.”"