The haunted view ~ Wednesday's writing

This view has haunted me for two decades now.  It was taken Labor Day weekend 2001, from the restaurant and gift shop level of one of the World Trade Center towers.

I was there in New York that day with friends from Connecticut, wandering around downtown.  Seeing the Wall Street bull statue.  Flirting shamelessly Waving at handsome firefighters as they cleaned their rigs.  We rode out to the Statue of Liberty on one of the ferries, and I had a picture taken of my friend and me with the WTC towers in the background.

A week later, I was flying from Florida to New Jersey for a business conference.  I was scheduled on connecting flight out of Atlanta, Georgia when the pilot made us aware that our connecting flights were delayed and to check with the counter when we landed for options.  When we landed, all flights were canceled and I called the office to ask them to make my counterparts in NJ aware I would be delayed.

The secretary didn't give me a chance to speak.  She asked where I was, and I told her in Atlanta.  "Get out of there now," she said.  "Get out of there and come home now."  I passed a television as I walked towards one of the rental car counters and didn't stop to see much other than the Pentagon in flames.  I asked her what was happening, and all she said was to get out of there as quickly as I could.

The Avis counter said that they could not release any cars without a reservation, so I stood in front of her and called the 800 number to make a reservation.  When they gave me the confirmation number, I handed her my phone.  She handed me keys and I was out of the airport and on the road 20 minutes before it was locked down by security.

I listened to the radio news during the five-hour drive home.  I screamed and cried.  Tried to get through to a friend who worked at the Pentagon.  I thought about the people I had seen working in the tower that day I was there.  The lines of tourists waiting for the elevator ride to the top.  The firemen would now be running into the unknown.  I thought about that view from the top, and how far away the ground seemed.  So far away that people couldn't even be seen, and cars looked like ants running back and forth.  I thought about the fear and terror they must have felt, that their family and friends must have felt.  I ached for all of them.  I ached for all of us.

My friend was okay.  He had not gone to work that day after spending the night in the ER with chest pains.  Perhaps a premonition that saved his life.  It was almost a week before I could get my own car from the airport lot and return the rental because of the security lockdown at our local airport.  Because I worked at a military base at the time, it was two weeks before we were able to go back to work.

My life changed a lot on that day driving home from Atlanta.  I had a lot of "what-if" thoughts that put how short and precious life was into perspective.  What if they had attacked the weekend before?   Who would I have made my last call to?  What would I wish I could have done instead of putting it off?

We never know how much time we are granted in life.  Make the most of it.  Today.  Don't wait for the "perfect" time.  Don't hesitate to tell someone you care about them.  All we ever have is today, this moment.  Nothing else is guaranteed.