9/11

Blue skies, coffee, radio, let’s go! Heading into the office on that fateful day I remember that my sports channel was not covering the sporting events from the night before. It was different, it was ominous, a plane has hit one of the World Trade Center Towers. How does that happen? And, as I continued to listen to the news, halfway into my 30-minute ride, a plane hit the South Tower. We are under attack! I arrived at the office and all anyone was doing was watching the big screen in the conference room and speculating. Two towers and now the Pentagon – our customers!??What is happening, bewilderment, we were told to stay put. We climbed the stairs to the rooftop of our building in Tysons Corner and looked out at the horizon – not a cloud in the sky, nor any planes, it was eerily quiet. Once dismissed we headed for the safety of our homes. My wife had made haste to corral our children who were at daycare, and once home, continued to learn more through the television. As we sat in our family room watching the news unfold, I couldn’t help but notice that the images were graphic and there sat my three- and four-year-old watching as intently as we were. We let them. In the aftermath, as the country learned more and began to come together as one United States, we got to see the many, many acts of kindness around the world. As I reflect on the past 20 years of binding to this shared experience and the influence of those events, I hear in my head the John Lennon song Imagine. Today, my son has committed to wearing the cloth of our nation and serving in the deterrence of like kind events. Our family holds each other close and I sing in my head “livin’ life in peace.”