24 years ago I was at a business meeting. The meeting was supposed to have been held at the World Trade Center Marriott (WTC3) but they couldn’t come to contract on pricing and the meeting was moved to Newport, RI. All these years later I’m thankful that was the case.
So when the meeting started that Tuesday morning, it was uneventful like most business meetings. When the first plane hit, there was confusion and it was believed to have been an accident. We were not told anything at that time. When the 2nd plane hit and it was obvious we were attacked, someone came into the room and informed us. We rushed out into the hotel bar area where they had multiple TVs on as we both watched the screen and unfortunately, a few colleagues who had family and friends who worked in the towers. They were frantically trying to get in touch with them. At the time, I was living and working in North Jersey and could see the NYC skyline each day from my town and the cities/towns I worked in. All my co-workers where from the area too. It was very much “close to home”.
I remember everything about that day like it happened yesterday. As horrible as the day was, it is still part of American History and I’m disappointed most schools aren’t teaching it to the students. We shouldn’t forget because it definitely changed a lot of things here in the US. Mary and I have shared our stories with our kids. If you are old enough to remember that day, you should talk to yours as well.
I still find the documentary called “102 Minutes That Changed America” a powerful watch and probably one of the best ones of the dozens that have been made.
