Fifteen Years ago in Talk Story

I was attending a company meeting at the Manoir Richelieu located in the northern reaches of the province of Quebec, near the Saguenay River. There was one rather small TV set located in the bar, and we heard the news (in French) around noon. The meeting stopped but nobody could get out. We were miles away from anywhere. We stayed at the hotel just wandering around for about 4 days. Then we were able to charter some buses to drive us down to Montreal, where we waited to get on planes home. I remember wondering if this was the beginning of a world war - we weren't getting much news from the French TV station - just endless loops of pictures of the planes crashing into the buildings.

Is it really that long ago. With the time difference it was lunchtime here and Jonny called me at work. He started Uni the next week,afraid of what the world may become.

9/11 was our Pearl Harbor. I was getting ready for work. I recall rejoicing when weeks later I heard the first airplane in the sky. I claimed it as a victory over evil.

That was the first time in my life that I didn't feel safe. That day and many days after, I couldn't help but glance at a window or watch for things out of the norm. Goodness knows NOTHING was in the norm. My parents, especially wanted me to come home immediately. Then they thought I should take a few days off. In my mind, to do that, may have made me feel a little safer, but it also meant the enemy had won.

Shock. Fear. Confusion. The pilot of the Pennsylvania plane lived just a few blocks from us. The mayhem was hundreds of miles away, but way to close to home.

I went for a walk and then worked in my flower garden for hours afterward. I found out about the attacks long after everyone else did. That produced an interior and irrational confusion, as to how I could have been doing those enjoyable things and having a wonderful day when such infamy took place. I'll never forget that event. Later I read each memorial article for each person killed in the twin towers. A private, gentle acknowledgement in my life of their value and of our loss of that person, their loss of life...etc.

When I taught about the day this year, I shared a picture where they were discussing that Air Force 1 was the only plane in the air, then I showed a video clip that I received in a NASA training that showed a mock up of how many planes were in the air at any given moment. Such an amazing thought. No planes....