I was in the air on the way to Chicago for our fall conference. Our flight left at 8:50 & we landed in Atlanta around 10:00a & I had to find a way to my Sister-In-Laws house, where I stayed for the next 3 days.
It's one of those days that play back in my mind like a power point presentation.
Click ... First class upgrade, yeah!
Click ... Seat mate - Yousef (yes, he was Palestinian)
Click ... Flight attendent telling Yousef that he didn't need a newspaper with a lady sitting next to him.
Click ... He's headed to Puerto - Bacardi headquarters. He's a VP with them.
Click ... Really nice guy. How did we get on the subject of Tree Surgeons?
Click ... Oh no, we are in a holding pattern, we will most likely miss our next flights.
Click ... If we do, we can at least grab breakfast.
Click ... Finally land but stop on runway for a long time.
Click ... At the gate but doors not opened.
Click ... Pilot "Everyone, there has been an incident, exit the plane & then immediately exit the airport."
Click ... Yousef & I look at each other confused ... "What the heck is he talking about?"
Click ... Exit plane & notice everyone gathered around TV in concourse restaurant.
Click ... Oh my God, the towers are burning!
Click ... Had forgotten to bring new cell phone. Head to Crown Room Club to get in touch w/Greg.
Click ... All circuits are busy. Call work 800 #, get Assistant to patch me over to Greg.
Click ... Greg answers & I start to talk then get disconnected.
Click ... Repeat patch. Greg - "Thank God you are alright! You need to get out of there."
Click ... Me - Looking at a TV in the lounge area "Oh my God, one of the towers just fell!!!!!"
Click ... Greg "GET OUT OF THAT AIRPORT NOW!!!!"
Click ... Me "All the rental cars are gone. I can take Marta, please call V to meet me at Sandy Springs."
Click ... Tram not running. Eerie feeling walking to exit. Had never looked closely at the marble statues.
Click ... On Marta. CDC employees get on, they had been ordered to evacuate. That really scared me!
Click ... Waiting on V. Call my boss from the pay phone. He was in Milwaukee headed to same conf.
Click ... V picks me up (thank God for helpful relatives!)
Click ... The 60" TV in their house never shut off for the next 3 days.
Click ... Driving to Southern GA to meet up w/Greg ... No planes in the air. Not right for Atlanta!
Click ... Met up w/Greg in Southern GA at one of his cousins restaurant (Captain's Corner - Vidalia).
Click ... Relief to be coming home!
The whole experience seems very surreal. Especially when I think that I was in NY just the week before & happened to have stayed at the Marriott that sat between those towers. After dinner one night, we actually went up to the Windows on the World for an after dinner drink & walked around looking into several of the conference rooms just to see the views, which were spectacular at night.
Yousef & I met up a few times for lunch & I still keep in touch w/him, although he & his family have since moved out of the country.
16 comments:
DFW - you have some extraordinary memories! scary, but extraordinary! i am glad that everything worked out. i am glad that you are still in touch with Yousef.
your friend,
kymber
It is kind of scary. It's only those big things good or bad, that I can recall with this kind of freeze frame clarity. And, usually the good news isn't as detailed. Must be the endorphins that take over when good news enters my brain.
Thanks my friend.
Your memories are really something else! I am glad that you were okay. That day was surreal. I was sitting in my office that morning and my mom called to tell me about it. The whole thing was unreal, I remember thinking that this just could not be happening. Reading your post reminds me exactly how I felt that day.
A day I wish was just a nightmare. Thanks for stopping by.
I was in Miami at ICE (former name for immigration, naturalization). I had just gotten through security and headed upstairs to meet for my appt. I was selling them office furniture. We got called out of her office and to the break room, and we watched the horror on TV. The building was locked down. I had to wait and get permission to leave. Once out, I went straight home! I do remember someone who worked for ICE stating; "you watch, they'll blame this all on us!" Yep, we pretty much did.
You are absolutely right Izzy. And, I think everyone just wanted to be home with loved ones at the end of that horrible day.
DFW,
Your account of 9/11 was very detailed. I'm happy you got home safe to your husband and were able to keep in contact with Yousef.
I was in the middle of a live conference with the Sheriff and Command Staff, we stopped the conference, and proceeded to Active Alert status. Closing and securing both the airport, gas pumps, and port.
I was at the firehouse and radioed Joe : "Return to Headquarters"
He gathered five men, got the "ok" from the Mayor, and headed for NY.
After digging on the pile for a week, breathing in fumes, dust, asbestos and finding no survivors, he came home and had a nervous breakdown.
We had only been married 4 months.
my friend - you saw my post about Gander...i was there in the offices of the Solicitor General of Canada...we made the decision to land those planes there. it is a memory that has stayed with me, too. i understand your freeze frame clarity - i wish it was for better memories tho. how is Yousef nowadays? how is his family?
Thank you my dear friend. I'm glad you were able to have a much bigger impact.
Wow Dana,
I can only imagine. Please tell Joe .... Thank you .... from me and all of those 'involved'. It truly is appreciated!
Thank you. The more time passes, the more people claim to have had some type of involvement. But the ones who were the most vulnerable, were the ones who had a personal interaction with the devastation. And you never hear about it from THEM. Joe NEVER even mentions what he did. His nervous breakdown from the horror....Well, I guess the rest of us can be grateful we were elsewhere at the time.
I remained at the firehouse and had my home to return to that night...with a blanket over my head.
Folks don't seem to be remembering like they used to. Sad but true.
I wanted to mention that I've changed my blog address, but feed readers won't catch that, which is why it looks as though my most recent post is several weeks old! I love your comments, so I hope you'll update your feed reader and keep on visiting.
Definitely will, Leigh, if I can figure out how.
Wow.
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