story109.xml

story109.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-03-01

At 7 a.m. PDT on September 11, 2001, as I was readying myself to go to work, the phone rang. My friend Debbie told me to turn on the t.v. "We're under attack!" My first action was to attempt to reach my daughter, who lives elsewhere in California (I finally talked to her that evening). On the way to work, I listened to the radio in my truck and, once at work, watched events unfold on television and on my computer. Not much work got done; people stood around the t.v. all day.

The first call I received in my office that morning came from a local travel agent. She had arranged a trip to Portugal and the Azores for my boss, his wife, and some of their friends. The group was due home that day. The travel agent related that the group was in the air when the attacks on America began and their plane, scheduled to land in Newark, was being rerouted to Canada. Eventually the plane landed in Halifax. Some 6000 or so airline passengers were rerouted to Halifax that day, and the Canadians were so kind to everyone.

Almost six months later, the events of September 11 still seem unreal to me.