story1054.xml

story1054.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-08-18

I live in Nashua NH and was on a business trip , the second week of a two week Western Canada swing. I was to meet co-workers flying in to Calgary on 09/11. I had met older half sister the night before for the first time. She was from my father's first marriage. Obviously, it was an emotional time for me, she is 41 and I am 38, so it's not like we are youngsters.

The morning of the attacks, I had taken a shower and saw that that there was a phone message. My half sister left me a message about the attacks and was on the edge of hysteria. I called her back and asked her what was happening and she told me to turn on the TV. I did and was shocked to see the coverage.

I then tried to call my wife on a land line and they were too busy so I called on my cell phone. I asked her if the TVs were on and she said yes, and I asked her if they were on the news channels. She said no, since we have two young children, the order of the day was the Disney Channel and Cartoon network. I told her what happened and to keep the kids isolated from it for now. I had to hang up because I was using a digital phone in analog roam and no way to charge the phone.

I then was transfixed on the television. I had to extend my stay in Calgary and was mostly watching CNN the whole time, the other networks were showing grisly footage that I did not care to glorify by watching.

The shock of the attacks and the aftermath were hard to take so far from home, but my problems were nothing compared to those in New York, DC and PA.

I was able to email my co-workers, family and friends that evening, checking on the ones I knew traveled out of Boston, like I do. I was also trying to reach my mother, who was en route to Alaska and I did not know if she was there at the time or not. It was a time of watching TV and email people. I took my meals in the hotel bar, but it tasted like sand, like after a funeral, where you know you should eat, but it is going through the motions. I kept thinking " I fly out of Boston and that could have been me".

The outpouring of support from Canada and the Canadian people was incredible. It never did get the play in the US, but that is understandable, seeing what happened. The rally in Ottawa on the National Day of Mourning in Canada was something to be seen. The Peace Tower grounds were awash with American Flags , with 100,000 + people there.


I was able to get a flight out of Calgary to Toronto and spent two days there, having a close friend there helped. We talked a lot about the events and it drove home the points about mortality and the need to keep friends and family close.

I drove home on Sunday, Sept. 17, 2001. The borders were a mess, everyone from Toronto was crossing in Buffalo and there reports were 5-7 hour waits. I decided to head east instead of south and crossed on the first crossing east Kingston. It was only 20 minutes, but when I finally did cross, the border guard had her hand on her holster, it being unsnapped for easy withdrawal and I had to show two forms of ID. I have never had to do that before at a US crossing.

The drive through Upper NY State was surreal. Traffic was light and I made good time. The radio played news stories and outpourings of grief. When I crossed into Mass on I90, I noticed that there were troopers at every bridge. This drove the point home that this was not a dream, but reality and we had been attacked and would not know where and when the next would be. We still don't.

I truly hope we can recover, and I hope that time will help those who lost loved ones. I still fly and the events of that day are in back of my mind when I take off, but to not fly and to change would give those who attacked us the victory. I refuse to do that.