She helped evacuate the South Tower on 9/11. 25 years later, she looks back.

RICHMOND, Va. — On Friday, across the country, many will take time to remember what happened 25 years ago on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.

Nearly 3,000 people died that day in the deadliest terrorist attacks on U.S. soil.

A local connection to the World Trade Center towers in New York brings that day into sharp focus for one family — and for me, it's a story that began the evening of Sept. 11, 2001, with two interviews I conducted a quarter century ago.

That Tuesday morning, I was inside the Dinwiddie County Courthouse when someone from the Commonwealth Attorney's Office came and got me, saying there was something I needed to see. Everyone was huddled around a small television watching just as the second plane hit the south building.

A short time later, I headed out and got a call from my friend Sarah Calkins, who told me a mutual friend, Michelle Olger's mom, worked in one of the World Trade Center towers. I drove directly to Michelle's house.

In my original story from that night, Michelle said, "And I thought she's probably dead, I kinda braced myself for it."

25 years later, standing in front of that same house, Michelle reflected on the passage of time.

"In some ways, it feels like yesterday. And then in other ways it feels like it's twice that," Michelle said.

WTVR

One vivid and terrifying memory has stayed with her.

"There were a lot of hours that we didn't know what her fate was. I did not think she was going to come out of that alive," Michelle said.

Her mother, Gail Menendez, who turned 83 years old this past July, carries the day with her still.

"I'll never forget it because it's in my head," Menendez said.

On Sept. 11, Menendez was working for Morgan Stanley on the 67th floor of the South Tower. She was also the designated floor warden. Realizing something was wrong that morning, she made a decision that her co-workers needed to get out.

WTVR

"I just screamed, get out, get out," Menendez said.

That evening, I tried for more than an hour to get a cellphone call to go through, but all the circuits were busy. Then Menendez's phone in her New York City apartment finally rang, and she described what happened as they were trying to get out of the building.

"When we got to something in the 30s, if I'm not mistaken, the lights dimmed, the whole building shook, and you sort of feel forward," Menendez said.

She paid special attention to one co-worker who was five months pregnant.

"We held hands the whole time, I walked her to her subway. She lived in Bronx, New York," Menendez said.

WTVR

Michelle remains proud of her mother.

"She explained how she did what she was supposed to do and got everyone from her floor out of the building," Michelle said.

Just two days after the attacks and the collapse of the buildings, Menendez made the decision to return to work.

"They would come over to me when they came back, hugging me and stuff like that and I said, why in the world are they hugging me, and I would say to myself, it's because I yelled and they got out or they're just glad to see me back," Menendez said.

Since the attacks, Menendez has only been to Ground Zero once.

"It took me one year to go down. I never went back again. It was too much for me the first time," Menendez said.

For Michelle, the memory of watching television that day — not knowing — has never left her.

"I've never been in that position, to be watching, in real time an emergency like that happen, that I had family in," Michelle said.

Watching the collapse on live TV made the uncertainty unbearable.

"My Mother's Building was the second to get hit but the first to fall. And you don't know. You don't know," Michelle said.

After making it out of the building, Menendez remembers the surreal moment of walking across the Brooklyn Bridge to get home.

"I was walking over the Bridge. Nobody panicking. Everybody just walking at a regular pace, talking to everybody and then I head somebody scream and I saw my building implode," Menendez said.

As each anniversary has rolled around, Menendez has always made sure not to watch television. There are just some things she doesn't want to see or hear. But she will never forget that day, and 25 years later she is still proud to call New York City home.

"Life goes on. I make the best of it. I'm happy, that's all that matters," Menendez said.

Michelle believes her mother has handled the traumatic experience well.

"She doesn't talk about it much but if you ask her, she will. It's not a subject off the table," Michelle said.

As for the upcoming 25th anniversary, Michelle shared what she hopes for.

"What I wish would happen on Friday is of course we commemorate what happened, in the sense of remembering the losses. But what I wish would happen as a Country, we come together again. And that we wore those little flags on our lapels proudly and we were on nation all going in the same direction," Michelle said.

CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.