Remember 9/11

The iron cross at Ground Zero

Its a date we'll all remember where we were the instant we received the news. I was at work. A woman in our area had a small portable black and white tv and quickly pulled it from underneath her desk. She got it plugged and tuned-in in just enough time to watch the second plane hit the South Tower. I didn't take one phone call that day ... despite the fact, at the time, I worked at a "Call Center."

My Dad was in a unique place that morning. He had left just two days before on a white-water rafting trip in the Grand Canyon. All week, my Mom and I wondered if he knew ... we knew his group would have no communication with the "outside world". That question was quickly answered when, four days after 9/11, my Dad arrived in the Las Vegas airport. Although his group had heard bits and pieces from other rafting groups, he had no idea what state the country was in until he arrived at the airport and learned of a handful of flights now open. He was able to make it to Chicago that weekend by plane (half-way to his final destination). He said you could have heard a pin drop the entire flight, and for the first time in his life he was glad to get off that plane.

I had the opportunity to visit Ground Zero 10 months later - July 2002. I carried a small American flag to St. Paul's chapel which was at the edge of Ground Zero. At the chapel, there was a small, old graveyard in the back, and the ashes and debris still buried the headstones. I remember as I placed the flag on the iron fence among all the other momentos, a woman asked to take my picture. Hardly a "Kodak moment" that I smiled for...

On the 5th anniversary of 9/11, let's take a moment to remember those who died - in NYC, at the Pentagon, and on the plane that went down in Pennsylvania.