I was going to post this last week, on the tenth anniversary of 9/11. This (below) is something I wrote on a long road trip home after being stuck in California when the attacks occurred. I thought I had saved an electronic copy, but I couldn't find it. I finally found an old printed copy yesterday after cleaning out a bunch of old file cabinets and re-typed it into my laptop (sure, I could have scanned it, but re-typing it brought me closer to what had happened.) My heart and prayers go out to all of those impacted in any way by 9/11.
Here's my story.
I awoke at just before 6 A.M. PST and immediately turned on the television in my hotel room, as I always do when I travel in order to watch the morning news. The first tower had been hit. My heart sank. I had arrived in California from New York the day prior. I thanked the Lord I was alive since I could have easily been on one of those fatal flights if I had left Tuesday morning instead of Monday afternoon. Minutes later, the second tower was hit, then shortly after the Pentagon was hit and then the Twin Towers crumbled. At that moment, I truly thought the entire country was under attack. If this was going to be an attack on the U.S., then a major city such as Los Angeles could possibly be a target as well. I was on the 14th floor of a high-rise hotel. I decided it was the wrong place to be and I immediately checked out.
All airports had been shut down. I knew I wasn’t going be flying home any time soon. As a matter of fact, I had no desire to fly even if I could. My co-worker, Steve, had flown in from New York just hours ago as well. He and I felt blessed.
We were not sure if some of the meetings we had scheduled were still going to happen, so we made some calls. Surprisingly, they were still on. We went to our first meeting, which was with a telemarketing firm which handled inbound calls from TV advertisers. They had dozens of TV’s lined up on the wall, horizontally and vertically, and they were all broadcasting the exact same pictures of people jumping from the towers and the towers collapsing, over and over again. It was awful. Steve and I couldn’t stop thinking about our families, as well as those that were being directly impacted by this terrible tragedy. We had to get home. We decided to drive back to Connecticut. Luckily, we had a rental car from the day before and Hertz was incredibly generous in allowing us to put the miles on the car for no extra charge.
We started the trip at 3:00 PST on Tuesday. We went on the Mapquest website and printed out the suggested route toward our homes in Connecticut. The plan was to take 40 East out of California into Oklahoma, 44 East to St. Louis, 70 East into Pennsylvania and then straight into the NJ Turnpike through NY and back home. Basically, it would only take a few roads to drive all 2,900 miles.
It is now early on Friday morning, the 14th of September and I’m typing on my laptop computer while Steve drives. We decided to drive all night last night. We have driven over 40 hours in total so far, just briefly stopping in Flagstaff, Arizona and Tulsa, Oklahoma in order to catch a few hours of sleep the previous two nights. There were very few cars on the road the entire trip. We have eaten almost every type of fast food along the way. We have driven past some incredibly tall mountains, through the Red Rocks of Arizona, through massive canyons, past flowing rivers, and deep valleys and flat plains as far as the eye could see. Every mile we drove, we were more and more astonished at the natural beauty of this land. If you haven’t driven across this country, do it soon. It is truly magnificent.
The most incredible part of our journey, however, was not the scenery. It was the people and their show of patriotism which was exhibited wherever we were. As we drove into each city, we saw American flags everywhere. Almost every hotel or gas station we passed had a sign wishing America well. We drove under hundreds of overpasses with banners hung over the highway which read “God bless America”. We listened to hours and hours of Talk Radio. Nationwide, people were calling into voice their opinions as to what America’s plan of action should be. Although these opinions varied widely of course, there was one common theme – an unyielding, impenetrable will to survive and to defend this country – a nation which must be defended for the good of mankind.
We are on the New Jersey Turnpike now, passing the New York City Skyline as we hit our final stretch home. Something is clearly missing from the skyline downtown. Although this tragedy was the only thing I’ve thought about for the past three days, it still seemed like it was just a terrible nightmare – until this very moment. The massive Twin Towers, which I had always cherished as a teen, no longer soared above the rest of the city. They were gone.
When I was younger, I was an avid photographer and would take pictures of the Towers constantly, as well as take pictures of NYC from the top of them. As a young, single man living in NYC, I would take my dates to Little Italy for dinner and then go to the Observation Deck of the Twin Towers at night. The city glistened from there. Every young person has their own way of creating their romantic moments; this was mine. The Towers will always have a special place in my heart.
As we come upon the final hour our trip, we are listening to some music on the radio. We hear “Imagine” by John Lennon and “Heal the World” by Michael Jackson. I listen to the words and wonder whether the world can truly “live as one” and whether we can all, in fact, work together to “make it a better place”. I don’t know if we can, but I know we can’t stop trying…for our kids, for our future generations. We must persevere.
Offer your friendship and your prayers to those directly impacted by this tragedy. Donate blood, support the economy, do whatever you can to help. Explain to your children that good things will ultimately come from this horrific event. Tell them America will respond and will become stronger.
I sit here typing on an American-made computer, in an American car, listening to people and music from across the U.S.A. I’ve been reminded of something on this trip, as most of us have started to realize the past few days…something many of us unfortunately take for granted. This country has more to offer than any place on earth. Beyond all of the natural beauty of this land, each individual has the freedom to practice religion, to pursue his or her goals, to communicate with their neighbors openly, to live their life the way they see fit. Stand tall America, and hold your head up high. Be proud to be an American, for America truly is beautiful.
