Nineteen years ago the world changed. On this fateful day 3,000+ plus innocent people were just starting their day not knowing this would be their last day on earth.
Fear and terror struck early and often. It is a day anyone over 25 years of age will remember were they were. I had just gotten out of the shower when my roommate yelled out a plane has just hit the world trade centre. I thought “Holy Shit that must have been some wicked fog for that to happen“ . Only to see the tv screen and the second plane approaching the second tower.
My immediate thought was terrorism has struck America by who. My next thought was my father has a cousin who was a lawyer in Manhattan and hoped he was safe. Getting to work and finding out the third plane had slammed into the Pentagon. I thought of a Toastmaster friend who worked at the Pentagon and hoped he was safe.
The President ordered all aircraft throughout America to immediately land at the closest airport. This affected Canada and here in Winnipeg we had within the hour 35 planes landing. The largest being a Northwest jumbo jet from Detroit to Tokyo. People were offering to billet stranded passengers and provide food. The kindness kept on coming. Then the fourth plane crashed in rural Pennsylvania after the passengers rebelled. Watch the movie United 93. You will not be disappointed.
It was hard to concentrate on work that day. Everyone was focused on the events. We even had a big meeting where we all discussed the events and leaned on each other for support.
Sports were cancelled, every tv station had the events and aftermath on. It was hard to get away. About 7 pm I went for a walk. The streets were bare, hardly any activity. I walked and ended up at my fathers place. He lived about 3 km away and on a flight path which was eerily silent except for the drone of a military plane flying nearby.
Luckily he was home, the door was open. I heard his booming voice inviting me in and for the next 3 hours we sat drinking scotch single malt and talking about the day. Well truth be told my dad was a history professor so I got the best lesson I ever had. He was teaching a class when word broke and he gave his class the same lesson he gave me. I learned more about Al-Quiada and Bin Laden and why they did what they did.
On Sept 10 night I had been out with my friend Mike doing our usual Monday Night tradition of watching MNF at our local establishment. Millions of people were going about their lives not knowing what the future held.
We have all heard the stories of bravery, valour, heroism, compassion and kindness that came out of that day. From the firefighters and police officers racing up the stairs to their impending demise in the towers as Survivors were on their way down. To the people of Gander and Newfoundland who gave of themselves and developed life long bonds wth the displaced passengers stranded by the airspace shutdown. Their stories chronicled in the award winning play Come From Away.
Even today we are hearing untold stories from that day. We can never forget. We have embraced the changes that have been imposed on us from that day. The world has for the most part gotten better and braver. Even today when we are struggling with the COVID pandemic we will emerge stronger and better for the experience. Be kind, compassionate and respectful always. We never know what people are dealing with. Everyone has their own story.
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