By Christian Mignot

The terrorist attacks on the nation may have occurred a year ago, but for Red Cross relief worker and Los Altos resident Judy Boore, thinking about her experiences in New York City brings tears and emotions as though the events occurred yesterday.

“Most disturbing was at night, when the whole city was dark except for the area around ground zero where they had huge spotlights up to eliminate the shadows,” she said. “That whole area glowed in a surreal, dreamlike fashion.”

Boore was one of six residents from Los Altos and Mountain View working for Palo Alto Red Cross who traveled to New York to join thousands of volunteers in relief efforts last September.

She was a supervisor for mental health workers assigned to a respite center just west of the World Financial Center site where firemen, police and representatives from more than 50 other government agencies would seek food, comfort and shelter after a long day of work.

A marriage and family therapist by profession, her main task daily was to walk through the center looking out for people who were alone and to give them a chance to engage in conversation.

“Most people wanted to talk about simple matters such as their daily schedules,” she said. “Others had the need to speak about the impact the attacks would have on the city and the country.”

At the same time, only a few miles away, Mountain View resident Adriana Flores was providing English-Spanish translation services for family members and victims at the family assistance center on Pier 94. At this location, anyone who had lost family, jobs or residences would line up to receive monetary aid after their documents had been checked.

Flores said she spent a great deal of time holding hands with people and listening to the stories they had to tell. Altogether, it was one of the most emotionally demanding times in her life, she said.

“I remember speaking to a woman who had lost her daughter and who hadn’t eaten for a while because of her grief,” Flores said. “All I could really do was to bring her some food and just listen. I sat there for two-and-a-half hours trying to give her some comfort.”

Ruth Anderson, also a resident of Mountain View and a marriage and family therapist, departed in December to pick up the relay baton where aid workers returning to their daily lives had left off.

Anderson worked at the mental health center on Canal Street, where she counseled victims and relief workers. A great deal of her time was spent comforting people as they stood in line outside, waiting to pick up an appointment number.

She recalls in particular the reaction of one woman she was helping when she discovered Anderson was from California.

“She burst into tears and told me how touched and glad she was that we came all the way from California to help out in New York,” Anderson said. “She asked me to return and to tell people ‘Thank you’ for caring.”

Longtime Red Cross volunteer and 40-year Los Altos resident Vinnie Biberdorf performed liaison duties between all state chapters and the Red Cross headquarters stationed in New Jersey, directly across the Hudson from ground zero.

Biberdorf could not help noticing the similarities between the communities she served in New Jersey and the town she has loved and lived in for most her life.

She was stunned by news that at a nearby school, 43 pupils had lost parents. “I thought, What if the same thing happened at Almond School or another local school?” she said. “We lead such a protected life here; there is no real understanding of the immensity of the tragedy that occurred there.”

Every person present in New York to witness the chaos following 9/11 will have an image chiseled forever into their minds, representative of what they felt.

Flores, accustomed to visiting a New York abuzz with people and bright lights, will always remember the shock of seeing the streets empty.

Anderson will recall the memory of a young Cantonese translator and college student who felt ashamed to ask for time off after working selflessly for months at the mental health center.

Boore will think of an exhausted burly fireman taking a nap at the relief center with a blanket covering his legs and a teddy bear tucked lovingly under his arm.

And Biberdorf will forever bear the image of an elegantly dressed young woman staring across the still Hudson River at the fuming remains of the towers, holding an infant in the crook of one arm, a flag and an urn in the other.