It's one of *those* days.
*those days that will forever be a before and after
* those days that you will always remember where you were and what you were doing
*those days that will forever define us as a nation, person, family member
*those days that remind us that there are horrible people in this world
It was 11 days before our wedding.
I was working as a Marketing and Admissions manager for a skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility.
This was pre-HIPPA, so I left the house early to get up to the hospital, comb through a few prospective-admission charts and talk to some doctors as they did rounds. I also wanted to chat with some discharge planners before their morning meeting (which meant, I was there pretty darn early). I left the hospital around 8:15, and decided to stop at Walgreen's to pick up a few odds and ends for our upcoming honeymoon trip.
I looked at the clock when I fired up my maroon Taurus- and thought about my brother and sister-in-law who were leaving Germany right about that very moment - headed to the US to attend our wedding. I was excited to see them, and spend a few extra days with them before the wedding whirlwind swept us all away.
I made a quick phone call to a salon to get my nails done a few days prior to the wedding. Check that off the list.
I heard Rick Beckett and Scott Winters report that a plane had hit Tower 1. At that point, they were speculating that it was a malfunctioning plane.
I got back to the facility within 10 minutes. The news was on- there were residents watching the coverage.
That's when we saw Tower 2 get hit.
Silence fell.
There were no words.
This was no longer an accident.
We were under attack.
The looks on our resident's faces.
The sheer disbelief.
Their fear.
Their helplessness.
Then we heard about the Pentagon.
Then we heard about United flight 93 which crashed in Pennsylvania.
What's next?
All flights were grounded.
Where was my brother?
Would his leave be cancelled?
What about our wedding?
What about our honeymoon plans?
What a scary day.
I was supposed to travel to Sales Camp in Indiana for work that night. A bunch of us from the region were slated to go. I assumed it would be cancelled.
It wasn't.
We all traveled in silence. In disbelief.
Where we tried to catch glimpses of news coverage in 5-10 minute breaks. And then tried to focus on how to sell, sell, sell....numbers, numbers, numbers. (Seriously, Heartland?!?!?!? GAH!)
Later that night, I learned that my brother's flight was waiting on the tarmac, but never left the ground. They were stuck on that plane for 6 hours waiting to take off; then had to go back to the base and report.
For a week, the skies were quiet. The people were quiet. The news was buzzing.
Here's what I learned from that day:
- Others are scared too. Never disqualify their fear as less than yours.
- The most helpless people will probably be the most scared. Try to find something- ANYTHING for them to do to feel helpful- even if it's tying patriotic ribbon to a pin for others to wear.
- Sometimes the best-laid plans don't always work out the way we planned them.
- Don't spend too much time and effort giving things that matter up for a company who only cares about the bottom line- and not the people who get them there. Companies that mistreat their employees are not worth working for.
- There are bad people in the world. Do what you can to be smart about it, and then leave the rest to God.
- God is still God. God is still good. No matter what.
Did you get that???
- God is still God. God is still good. No.matter.what.
Where were you on that morning?
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