Remembering and honoring

What I'm about to write might seem out of place in this blog, but I hope readers will indulge me and read on. Today is September 11, 2011. In just over 8 hours, many Americans will observe a moment of silence, as we remember the day 10 years ago that changed our lives and our nation's landscape forever.

For me, September 11, 2001 started out as just another day. I was on my way to work in my office on the perimeter of the Scottsdale Airport. I had the radio on in my car, and usual, I was frustrated with morning commute traffic. Instead of stopping at the local Starbucks, which I did nearly every morning on my way to work, for some unknown reason, I pulled into a neighborhood sandwich & coffee shop. As I walked in, the girl behind the counter commented that a plane had just flown into the World Trade Center in New York City. I remember thinking, and I believe I even said; "it's probably foggy in New York, and some guy in a little plane got lost". The shop had no tv, and I honestly didn't think any more of it. I just figured some private pilot got lost or confused, and hit the skyscraper. No big deal, right?

Less than 5 minutes later I walked into my office. The hallway was still dark, but I could hear voices. Loud voices sounding worried and rushed. Instead of going into my own office, I turned the corner into the call center area in time to watch the second airplane hit the WTC, almost as if in slow motion. Could I be seeing what I thought I'd just seen? Could a jet really hit the World Trade Center? And why? The sky looked clear. I didn't see any fog. How does a jet hit a skyscraper on a clear and cloudless morning?

And suddenly our phones went crazy. In September 2001 I worked as the director of training and development for a software company that designed, implemented and maintained crew lodging and transportation software for airline crews. Our largest customer was a US based freight company, for whom we assisted hundreds of crewmembers each day. Because we held hotel rooms world wide, and because aviation in the US came to a complete standstill, it seemed that everyone was calling us looking for help accommodating their crewmembers who'd been stranded. The callers were polite but obviously anxious and they needed help quickly.

I don't know how many calls we took that day. I don't remember who we called to come in and help us field the calls. I don't remember what time I left my office late that night. I don't remember who I spoke with that day, or even that week. I do remember someone ordering pizza's to be delivered for lunch. I also remember feeling ice cold that day and for many days after. And living in Phoenix Arizona, September's aren't cold. But I was. From the inside out, I just felt cold.

The following Summer I met a commercial airline pilot that I would eventually fall in love with and marry. He's a great pilot, a professional, someone whose skill and judgement I trust implicitly. I've often told him that he somehow becomes part of his airplane when he's in the cockpit. I can't explain that, it's just a feeling I get when I see him flying, whether it's the Boeing 777 he fly's for Continental or our little Cessna 150.

I can't say that I never worry about Keith on his trips. In our early years, when I'd drop him off at the airport for a trip to Tel Aviv Israel, I'd have to stop to get through a panic attack brought about by my fears for his safety there. Even now, whether it's a hurricane on the east coast or a frigid winter in Beijing, I worry about my husband. But weather and city safety are small potatos compared with the worries I and other pilots' wives have about the possibility of a repeat of the events of September 11, 2001.

Today my husband is in Hong Kong. He'll leave there late tonight, returning home tomorrow evening. And from the time he boards his plane, until I hear his voice shortly after landing in Newark, New Jersey - I will track his flight online and hope and pray for his safety, just as I do for every single flight he takes.

I pray that we never again experience the sort of violation our nation experienced that September day 10 years ago. I pray that no spouse, parent, child or sibling has to again lose a loved one at the hands of religious fanatics. I hope that we as a nation never take our safety and security so lightly that we become complacent and again fall victim to madmen.

More than anything, I pray that time somehow eases the pain of that September day and that we as a nation can someday watch September 11th pass as just another date on the calendar. But today won't be that day. Today we will remember, and mourn again the loss of so many innocent lives, and perhaps, our greater innocence in general.

God Bless America