Nine Eleven

Yes, posting today is pretty unoriginal, but what the hell.

On 9/12/01 I was supposed to fly to Tampa. My nominal partner was scheduled to leave the day before. When I got into my office I saw a voice mail from her. She said that she couldn't fly out on the 11th because of "what happened in New York." I figured that there was a big storm or some sort of power outage. Then I turned on my computer and went to the ESPN website and saw the news.

Like a lot of other people, I was riveted to the TV most of the rest of the day. I saw the towers come down, but I kept watching. I don't know what I expected to see. Another plane crash? Distance changed the impact of the story. In LA it was about terrorists and where they would strike next. We initially missed the part about the bravery and sacrifice of the first responders. Then the news came that one of the flights was bound to LA from Boston--American Airlines flight 11. I didn't know anyone on that flight, but I used to take it regularly when I lived in Beantown. That was scary.

I did know someone on that flight that day. She was another consultant living in the Boston area. I'll be honest, I didn't particularly care for her. She wasn't mean or nasty, but had that abrasive northeastern attitude that rubs me the wrong way. We have a mutual friend who was much closer to her and the loss hit her hard.

I called that mutual friend this morning. We don't talk nearly as much as we should and it's bad that one of the only times I call her is on 9/11. We didn't speak of the anniversary today, but it did slightly hang in the air, though not as much as in years past. That's what time will do.