Happily it wasn’t for me.

I am grateful.

We have come a long way from September 11th 2001, when the abyss of doom and despair opened and we looked in.

This was a first for all of us except the men and women who had seen active duty on a battle front. The rest of us could only try to draw images in our minds.

We never came close to the real thing.

On that still and perfect morning, perhaps it was too tranquil that we had to spoil it…we were given a taste and an introduction to undiluted evil at its absolute best. If it could be graded, September 11 would indeed be given an A.

What a surprise we received!! What a lesson I learned that day.

Today I look back to see if there was anything I could have done differently that would have changed the course of my life and put me in another place from 7:30 Am to 10:30Am on September 11 2001.

I find nothing that I could have changed. Why would I have changed anything? What would have been my suspicions? I had none. My one obligation was to go to work and prepare for my day ahead.

 

It was all about my commitment for that day, instead, I walked into a maelstrom of evil without armor, without saying goodbye to family, without a single plan of action.

 

For 24 hours I was completely lost and confused as I have never been.

Following those first hours I was plunged into a place so dreadful it burned indelible marks on my psyche….I can still smell America as she lay decomposing beneath my feet days later as I journeyed through the underground back to ground zero, back to work…as that did not stop…even though I was more like a Zombie.

Today, I still hear the sounds of the absolute din that was created that fatal day. I still see the plane plunging into the tower.

I still recall running down the unending stairs…I still recall people jumping from the buildings.

I still recall the whooshing sound of the concrete slabs as they fell at my feet missing me God alone knows how…I still recall the towers imploding.

I am grateful that I can still recall. I will never forget this…but I won’t log it as one of my finer experiences.