Remember it like it was yesterday, it was first day of our first big trade show and we were in Atlanta, Georgia on 9-11-01.
We were supposed to be there for 3 days and literally as the first few attendees starting filtering into the tradeshow area, we started hearing rumors about a plane crash.
I walked over to where a group of people were hanging out and asked the closest guy, “What’s going on?”.
He said that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center tower in New York City.
I immediately thought of this…
A Cessna 172 – the world’s most popular plane.
I thought it was definitely sad but I didn’t get the big deal. I’ve known planes my entire life and I knew that a Cessna 172 really wouldn’t do that much damage to a huge building, right?
Then another guy next to the one I was talking to said, “It was a 767”.
Chills still go up and down my spine hearing that.
I stopped dead in my tracks.
“Are you sure? That’s a jumbo jet”.
He said that was what they were saying on the news.
I knew in that moment that there is no way that would be or could be an accident.
Our trade show event was over before it got started and we, like most people, spent the rest of the day watching the news. Since I knew immediately that nobody would likely be flying, I called my wife, told her that I loved her (along with my baby daughter) and asked her to reserve us a rental car going one-way from Atlanta to San Diego.
The next day we packed up and spent three days driving across country with our team of four. Thanks goodness we had a rental car, otherwise we would have probably been stuck in Atlanta for at least a week.
Interestingly, we didn’t see a single police office giving out a speeding ticket during that entire trip and the roads were barren. Today, there is a new building and memorial where the twin towers used to stand.
And last night there was a gorgeous rainbow extending over the New York skyline. I think God is putting a little color on the new Freedom Tower which now stands on the site of fallen towers.
I went to New York City a couple of years after the attack and it was a somber place to visit “The Site” as locals call it.
Today it stands as a memorial of all those who died on that tragic day 14 years ago.
Please take a moment today to remember those that lost their lives and remember that freedom isn’t free.
WEEKLY MOTIVATION
Have An Attitude of Gratitude
List out, right now, 10 things that you are GRATEFUL for on the nearest piece of paper you have.
Amazing how that puts everything in perspective, isn’t it?