Reflections

At 1:00 pm on November 22, 1963, I was downstairs in the staff room for our school newspaper and yearbook working on one of the sections of the yearbook that we would publish that year.  It was fourth period and lunch was being served in the cafeteria.  As was the usual case, we had a small television in the staff room which we always turned to a new soap opera, Days of Our Lives, to see what was happening with Bill, Missy, and the Horton family.  However, on this particular day, our program was interrupted with the news that President John F. Kennedy had been shot in Dallas.  Shortly, as we stayed glued to the TV, we found out that he had died.

There are incidences in our lives that will remain indelible, and we can relive every detail over and over.  November 22, 1963, was one of those times.  So was September 11, 2001.

I've just finished seeing the movie and reading The Help.  Aibileen, one of the characters in this book, wrote down her prayers rather than saying them.  She found this a comfort, and as the story progresses, she writes down things that happened in her life in Mississippi in the 60s.  When I was a teenager, I kept a diary, but I have gotten away from writing down my thoughts since I've been an adult.  Writing this blog has become my outlet for expressing myself.  And, today, like Aibileen, I feel that I need to write about 9/11.

I was sitting at my desk in our home office about 7:45 am CDT that particular morning with Good Morning America broadcasting on the TV.  Becoming engrossed as I seem to do when I'm on the computer, I had completely blocked out the white noise that it was blaring.  A little before 8:00, the phone rang, and it was my daughter.  "Mom" she said, "A plane has hit the World Trade Center in New York".  I grabbed the remote, spun my chair around, and turned up the volume.  We talked for a few minutes, and I heard Diane Sawyer say something to the effect that it seemed to be a small engine aircraft that had hit the building. 

I immediately called one of my best friends who makes two or three trips to New York every year to tell her.  We both love New York City, and I knew she'd want to know. While we were on the phone, the second aircraft hit the second tower.  Then, I called Charlie, my husband, to let him know what was going on.  He was at his doctor's office getting the results of his physical the previous week.  Another one of the things that is etched in my brain is that this was the day we found out Charlie is diabetic.  He was unaware of anything going on at the time, and told his doctor what had happened.

I called our office to tell the staff to turn on the TV there and keep a watch on what was going on.  I quickly took a shower and turned the TV on in our bedroom so I could hear what was going on.  I saw the live broadcast from Florida as President Bush was informed on the situation, and I don't think I'll ever forget the stunned look on his face.  Then, the Pentagon was hit.  Then, the plane was downed in Pennsylvania.  Was it never going to end?  Were we at war, and just didn't know it? 

As I was driving to the office listening to NPR, I heard the announcement that all planes were being downed at the nearest airport.  Our office at the time was located in a landing pattern for the airport in Nashville.  By the time I got there, planes were already lining up in the flight pattern to come in.  About thirty minutes after I got to the office, I walked outside, and as far as I could see, planes were coming overhead about every 30-45 seconds to land.  Then, it was deathly quiet.

I saw the towers as they fell that day on TV.  I can't imagine what it was like to be in New York during this time.

My brother was supposed to be in New York City on business on 9/11.  He would have been in the Marriott World Trade Center that got hit when the towers fell had his travel plans not been changed.  My cousin, her daughter and son-in-law, and her nephew all live in the Washington D.C./Virginia area.  Her daughter usually had appointments at the Pentagon on Tuesday, but had a change in plans and didn't go that day.  Charlie's doctor's son-in-law was heading to the World Trade Center for an appointment just as the first plane hit. Fortunately, he never made it there.

All day that day, I was on an open chat room with other travel agencies across the U.S.  One of my friends who owns a travel agency just outside New York City had two brothers and a cousin who were all firefighters that they could not find.  Finally, almost thirty-six hours after the towers fell, they were able to connect and none were hurt. 

We are in the business of selling fun, but on this day and for weeks and months to follow, the travel business suffered.  Our first priority was helping those who needed it to get back home safely.  All I knew to do at that time was send out an e-blast with every airline, hotel chain, rental car company, cruise line, and tour operator's toll-free phone numbers.  We offered to assist anyone who needed it and told our subscribers to  forward this information on to those who did.  I wasn't looking for business; we wanted to help and this was the only way we knew that we could.

We had been booked to speak at a conference two weeks after 9/11.  I had to completely ditch the presentation we were going to make and write a new one addressing change in our industry since that tragic day.  While we were getting dressed the morning of our presentation, we had CNN on in our room.  There was a crawl on the screen that made more sense to me than anything I had heard or read during all of this - Al-Queda is to Islam what the KKK is to Christianity.  WOW!  Just like that, my eyes were opened to the fact that a small extremist faction of the Islamic religion who believes in the same God that I do, had caused this mayhem.  I could identify.  Yes, I'm a Christian.  No, I'm not a radical who uses my Christianity to promote extremist beliefs like the KKK in the name of Christianity.  Yet, the fears that all Muslims were Al-Queda were out there. 

The travel business has changed radically since 9/11.  Security has heightened at airports.  Security to board and disembark cruise ships is now as tight as it is at airports.  Security to enter Titans stadium to just watch a football game has been heightened.  Even five years after 9/11, when we took my then five-year-old granddaughter to DisneyWorld, security had been put into place, and my purse was checked before we could enter the park.

We live in a different world now.  My grandchildren will never know the innocence we knew as children.  Security will always be a part of their lives.  So, as I write and reflect on that fateful day, I feel a cleansing of sorts.  Sometimes, it's just good to reflect on things that have impacted our lives.