We Remember... 9/11 A Decade Later

As I sit here in my hotel room in Narita, Japan, September 11, 2011 has officially ended here, although it's just 4:45pm on the 11th back home.  Looking back on that morning, the situation still seems so surreal to me. For my generation, I always guessed up until 9/11, that the defining national tragedy would be either the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion or the Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing.  Those two events were something the entire country was caught up in and grieving around.

That all changed on that  Tuesday morning for me, for all of us.  Of course I remember the first person to call me, my college friend Jenny.  To this date, we always make sure we talk to each other on the 11th every year.  I remember initially being so unable to comprehend was was going on.  It just didn't seem possible.  The phone kept ringing with calls from people who knew me wanting to know where I was.  I remember I was originally supposed to fly a turn around that evening to San Diego and before learning that the airspace was closed, I was struggling to come to terms with the fact that I might have to get on an airplane.

I remember the heartbreak I felt when I was able to learn who the working crew members were.  Flight 11 was staffed with Boston flight attendants, and I had just transferred from that domicile to Dallas, so those people were still fresh on my mind.  Seeing the names of friends and co-workers and knowing they were dead....  it's still hard to think about some times.  My mind plays back to that day a lot and I try to imagine what it was like for them on board the airplanes.  I don't think I will ever be able to fathom the hell and fear they experienced during that last period of their lives.

One of my most vivid memories was walking my dogs that evening with my mother.  Living so close to the airport in Dallas, a plane would fly overhead every 60 seconds.  That night, there wasn't a single plane in the sky.  No distant airplane lights lining up for approach.  There were no cars on the road.  There was no movement.  It was just so eerily quiet.

So in closing, I dedicate today, like I have done every September 11th for the past 10 years, to the reflection and remembrance of my friend and co-worker Sara and all of the people who lost their lives that fateful morning.  It is our duty to remember and keep their spirits flying.