16 years ago, when 911 happened, I was driving to our office in the Buckhead area of Atlanta. That morning had been like most mornings, where our girls left for school, I got some coffee and settled into the one hour drive to the office. At the time, I was part of a small brokerage company with two very close friends called ThompsonCalhounFair. When I say small, I mean small as in the three of us plus one.
I remember parking in the garage and strolling as usual to the building and up the elevators to our little 1,000 sq. ft. office. I walked in and Mark was sitting in Al’s office and they looked like they had just lost their best friend. Mark ask “have you heard?” I said “heard what?” and he said “it’s bad, really bad.” I said “what are you talking about, I didn’t have the radio on coming to work” and he and Al proceeded to tell me about first airplane that hit the first tower and how the news media think it was a terrorist attack. Well, that got my attention.
We went across the street to the Marriott Courtyard where they had a TV so we could see what was going on. About 20 min into us watching the news, the cameras focused live on a second plane that was flying near the Trade Center and then we, along with most of America watched as it flew into the second Trade Center building. No one said anything because we all knew what it meant. We watched live coverage of people jumping from the tower which was 110 stories tall and my stomach was tied in knots. I don’t remember how much longer, but it wasn’t long, maybe 20-25min and we watched as the first tower collapsed to the ground and people were running for their life. Then a few min latter we watched as the second tower collapsed and I knew our world, as we knew it had just changed.
Not knowing the extent of the terrorist attack and where else it may happen, I jumped in my Chevy Tahoe fully prepared to hit four-wheel drive and basically do whatever it would take for me to get to my family. I made it my girls schools that were still operating and checked them out and made sure Elaine was home. Once I had my family together we watched the as the security of America and the world changed that day.
There are moments you can remember in exact detail about where you were and what you were doing. That was one of those moments for me and I will never forget it. On this day, September the 11th, 2017 the 16th anniversary of 911, let’s remember what America means and what it stands for and the good about who we are. Let not a very few small-minded journalists who write editorials for news outlets lead you to believe that America has lost its way. It hasn’t and we haven’t. We simply live in the best country on the face of the globe. KT