On September 10, 2001, I flew home from a business trip just like any other business trip.
On the morning of 9-11, I started my day like any other Tuesday by getting ready to go into the office.
My commute to the office usually took 30 minutes sans any traffic delays. I drove to the office most days, listening to my music on a CD. I rarely, if ever, listened to a radio station during my commute in either direction.
I arrived at the office, got out of my car, and opened the back door to get my briefcase. While pulling my briefcase out of the car, I heard the radio coming from a food delivery truck across the parking lot.
When I heard the announcer say that an explosion at one of the World Trade Center buildings was caused by a plane flying into it, I stopped what I was doing and felt like I was stuck to the ground under my feet. I was in shock at what I had just heard over the radio.
After I got into the office, we, as a leadership team, decided to close the office so that the several hundred employees could go home and be with their loved ones.
When the office was cleared of all employees, I made my way back to my car to drive home. On my way home, I turned on a local radio station reporting on the horrific events in New York City.
I could barely stay focused on the road while listening to the reports of unimaginable things happening.
When I got home, I turned on the television and watched in horror as the images on the screen were unedited. The raw emotions and the uncensored words were shocking to see on national television.
My reflections on 9-11 include:
Seeing the Destruction of things was unimaginable and, at the same time, shifted my paradigm to the unthinkable being possible.
Realizing the Deaths of so many innocent people were going to have a lasting impact on countless lives broke my heart.
Coming to terms with the Devastation that had never been witnessed before would take a long time to sink in for many people.
My curiosities about those three reflections:
How might we reconnect with the Compassion that we showed each other in that experience?
How do we find our way back to rebuilding a Community at a time when people are more divided and distanced than ever before?
How do we tap into the Courage that we shared after the events of 9.11 and take bold action to reunite us?
For many days after the events of 9-11, all flights were grounded. I lived in the approach path for the arriving flights into SAT, and when the flights stopped flying over, it became eerily quiet when I was in the backyard.
I still remember sitting outside and thinking about what it meant to have no airplane noise overhead.
A couple of weeks later, the time came for me to take my first post 9-11 business trip. The airport was very quiet despite having people at the counters and gates. When it came time for me to pre-board and take my seat in 3D, I realized that things had changed both in terms of the processes and the emotions that people were feeling.
I remember watching the other passengers board the plane and thinking that the people who boarded those flights on 9-11 followed the same process, not knowing what would come next for them.
Many of the passengers seated near me looked at each other with no expressions or a blank stare. When the cabin door closed, everyone around me, including myself, had their cell phones in their hands with a finger on the button to turn off the airplane mode.
We were all somehow prepared for the unthinkable now that we all knew it was possible.
From that flight forward for the next 20 years, I made it a habit to call a loved one before the cabin door closed. I sent a text message instead of a call when I was flying home from an international airport.
This is just one way the horrific events of 9-11 changed the way I look at something that I thought before was a given-flying safely from point A to point B.
How has your life been impacted by the events of the 9-11 attacks?
How do you show or tell those you love that you love them in simple everyday ways?
With much gratitude.
—
This post is republished on Medium.
—
| 0x010C |
