It Was Close, But For Others Real

It was September 11, 2001 and I was 14 years old and getting up early in the morning for scripture study before school started. At the time we were still living in Alamo, CA, a small suburb 45 minutes east of San Francisco. I kissed my dad goodbye while he was getting ready to leave for his trip to New York. He was having a business dinner on top of the World Trade Center that same night. Me and my sister rushed out the door and scattered away to an hour of scripture study. I walk into class around 5:50am when I hear a guy my same age say, "A plane flew into the Trade Center." It seemed like none of us could focus or had any idea what really was happening. At the time I had no idea what a "train center" was, I thought that meant the subway. When he said "Trade Center" I perceived it as "train center." I didn't know the importance of what was happening. I came home to see my dad's bags packed, he was standing in the living room with the TV on and dressed in a suit. I looked at him and said, "Dad why haven't you left yet, you are going to miss your flight." He turned around and very calmly said, "There was a terrorist attack in New York, I'm not going."  I had no idea what anyone was talking about, nothing made sense... I thought there was a "tourist attack" and that a plane accidently flew into the "train center." It wasn't until I saw the actual footage on the news when it all connected and made sense.

I was replaying this in my head the other day while my dad was again getting ready to fly back to New York City. My heart started to swell with gratitude that my dad was not in New York during the attacks. I was grateful he had dinner plans not lunch plans, that he wasn't anywhere close to leaving the house, and that there were was the time zones that separated Alamo, CA from New York, NY. The news was able to broadcast fast enough for my dad to hear the news before boarding a plane. I am so utterly thankful that my dad had someone watching and protecting him that day.

My heart goes out to any of those who were involved or have lost any loved ones during the attack. I hope that today we can all find peace, love, and gratitude for one another and for the memory of what today stands for.

Where were you on 9/11? What does today mean for you?