Never Forget

Early on a bright Tuesday morning in 2001, I was in the middle of a cross-country flight, literally running from one terminal to another in Dallas, when my cell phone rang.

It was my wife. I had been on an American Airlines flight heading for L.A., after all — and at that time, not much else was known about the first plane that struck the World Trade Center. I thought she had to be misunderstanding what she had seen on TV. Would that she had…

On that longest and saddest of days - when family and friends were so dear and precious to us all - I was stuck in a hotel room hundreds of miles from home. It was perhaps the longest day — and loneliest night — of my life. In fact, I was to spend the next several days in Dallas — there were no planes flying, no rental cars to be had — separated from home and family by hundreds of insurmountable miles for three interminably long days. As that week drew to a close, I was finally able to acquire a rental car and begin a long two-day journey home. While it was a long, lonely drive, it gave me a lot of time to think, though most of that drive was a blur, just mile after endless mile of open road.

There was, however, one incident I will never forget.

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas, a group of Hell’s Angels bikers was coming up around me. A particularly scruffy looking guy with a long beard led the pack on a big bike — rough looking. But unfurled behind him on the bike was an enormous American flag. At that moment, for the first time in 72 hours, I felt a sense of peace — the comfort you feel inside when you know you are going...home.

Eighteen years later, I can still feel that ache of being separated from those I love — and yet still remember the warmth I felt when I saw that biker gang drive by me flying our nation’s flag. On not a few mornings since that awful day, I’ve thought about how many went to work, how many boarded a plane, not realizing that they would not have an opportunity to go home again. How many sacrificed their lives so that others could go home. How many, to this day, still put their lives on the line, here and abroad, to help keep us and our loved ones safe.

We take a lot for granted in this life, nothing more cavalierly than that there will be a tomorrow to set the record straight, to right wrongs inflicted, to tell our loved ones just how precious they are. As we remember that most awful of days, and the loss of those no longer with us, let’s all take a moment to treasure what we have — and those we have to share it with still.

Peace.