Nine Eleven

I do not talk much about nine eleven. It is a day I will never forget.  It makes my stomach sick when I think about it. Many of us will never forget where we were and what we were doing on that day.

My sister and her husband were visiting me.  I was taking my kids to school.  I went in to the office and the secretary asked if I had heard that a plane had hit the world trade center.  I had not heard.  My stomach felt sick.  I went to the car and told my sister. 

As the day continued and the events unfolded, it became clear that the world would never be the same again.  It also just happened to be my BIL birthday.  We never celebrated.  It took my sister a week to get home. 

My husband was out of town that day.  He was flying.  Two days earlier he had a layover in Manhatten.  Him and the other pilot went to the World Trade Center to do a little sightseeing.  He called me to say how fantastic it was and how he wished we were there together.  

As a pilots wife you get to experience emotions you never knew existed.  When you hear there are multiple airplanes hitting buildings you tend to have a panic attack.  Especially when they are your husbands airplanes. 

Amazingly, I was calm, because I knew my husband was safe.  He called me.  I felt blessed.  Then an amazing thing happened.  I am not surprised.  I have seen it happen many times before.  Pilots wives stick together.  We protect each other. 

We are like mother hens who watch over the nests.  We will always look out for one another.  That was one of those times.  My phone rang off the hook all day.  It was like an unofficial phone tree of every pilot I have ever known checking on me.  In between calls, I was calling other wives.  We gave each other updates on who we had talked to and who was safe.  We gave each other moral support.  Many were home alone because their spouse was out flying a trip. 

By the end of the day, I knew where everyone was.  In fact, I think I talked to everyone I  have ever known in my life. 

Over the years I have had plenty of friends, and known plenty of people who have died in plane crashes, or have lived to tell some incredible stories of surviving plane crashes.  It is the nature of the job.  The chosen profession of my spouse.  This is why I keep 18,000 bottles of antacid tablets in my home. 

Even now, when he takes off on a trip, I worry.  I worry that some crazy fool will do something to his airplane and I will never see him again.  I know it sounds crazy, but call me crazy.   Today, as I watch and listen, and teach the events of nine eleven, I can't help but feel sad, proud, and respectful of all those who participated in the service of that day. 

I know the families who lost loved ones wanted this day to be a day of national service.   How great is that.  We are taught everyday that we need to be charitable to others.  "Charity Never Faileth" is the motto I have heard all my life.  It is nice that the nation is finally publicizing it today.  Thank you to the families for putting a face on service.

Here is a tribute that I enjoyed eight years ago.  May you enjoy it again now.

God Bless.