09/11/2026
I can hardly believe that this year marks the 25th Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. It seems like forever ago and just yesterday when it happened. This day stimulates the deep love and profound respect I have held for First Responders for as long as I can remember (not to mention interacting with them first hand while living in NYC for over 15 years.)
Prior to living in NYC, I was there visiting to attend my sister's wedding-September 9, 2001.
Here is my 9/11 story.
My sister got married in the Bronx on September 9, 2001. The weather was beautiful, the bride was fashionably late and it was a wonderful celebration. The happy couple left for their honeymoon shortly after. I took one last visit around Manhattan and saw my favorite dance studio, Broadway Dance Center, the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, and the World Trade Center in the distance. I loved the skyline. My parents and I were returning home to Oregon the evening of September 10, 2001. Now, what a contrast. We flew out of Newark airport and the weather was atrocious. Thunderstorms like you wouldn't believe. The terminal we were in had floor to ceiling windows and the afternoon sky looked like the black of night. We were scheduled for a 5:30 flight out on United Airlines. We approach the check-in desk and the woman behind the counter suddenly has the most peculiar face. She looks at us, and back at her computer. As the seconds pass she starts acting agitated and then in a near panic. She says, "You can't be on this flight, you have to get on the earlier flight. You really have to be on the earlier flight. If you're not on the earlier flight, everything tonight will be cancelled, and the only flight is the morning San Francisco flight and you won't make it." She is clearly frantic and her fingers are flying on the keyboard finding us space on an earlier flight. She finds the 3:30pm flight that goes to Denver. She shoves the boarding passes in our hands, and says, "You have to make this flight! You have 15 minutes-you need to run! Go!" We are in a bit of shock, but we clearly need to make this plane. We are literally running through the airport like the scene from Home Alone. We get stopped at security, My mom has a hot glue gun from making epic wedding decorations. She is told it looks too much like a weapon, they will need to go upstairs to have someone come and check it. Rather than agreeing, mom says, "No, I'm sorry we have a plane to catch". She immediately digs in her bag, finds the glue sticks that go with the glue gun and wishes everyone well. We rush to the gate and are last to board. These are the huge planes with 3 sections of 3 seats across. Each seat had a TV screen in front of them (this is when they first came out). My dad is scrolling through and happens across a documentary of the first World Trade Center bombings in the 90's. Now, we taxi a little and then stop. The weather isn't letting up at all. We are on the tarmac for 4 hours!! The crew started pulling out the emergency snacks for passengers (who knew they had those??). Finally, we are cleared for takeoff. We are the last to take off. All the rest of the flights for the evening are cancelled. The flight is peaceful. We arrived at Denver, and what in the world-they held the plane to Eugene for us! We board the plane and the door closes behind us. Meanwhile, I'm talking to my dad saying-wasn't it odd that the woman at the check-in counter was so adamant we be on the earlier flight? I'm so struck by her behavior. God bless my dad-he says she's just doing her job and finds nothing odd. We arrived in Eugene safe and sound. I had been house-sitting for a neighbor so I was sleeping at their house while my parents went home to bed. I was woken by a phone call about 6am. My grandmother who lived near Idaho, so one time zone ahead of us called. She told us to turn on the TV. I immediately raced to my parents and we watched in horror as we saw the planes on replay crash into the towers. And then...the plane crashed in Pennsylvania....from Newark....United Airlines 7:30am flight to San Francisco...a flight we'd taken many times prior. And it hits me. That was THE flight. If not for the woman at check-in booking us on the earlier flight and pushing us to make it....it was crystal clear...we were destined for the morning flight that went down in the Pennsylvania field.
I don't believe in coincidence. But I do believe in God and Guardian Angels. I wholeheartedly believe that the woman at the check-in was our family's guardian angel. This is one of many times God has intervened and saved my life. Many many others were not so lucky on that fateful day. The bravery, the loyalty, the stamina, the determination, the sacrifice, the care and courage that the FDNY and NYPD and others showed on 9/11 is beyond what I have words for. They exemplified and demonstrated first hand who First Responders are at their core, not just in NYC but across the country. I am so grateful for the work that First Responders do and for their families that help support them in all they do. Sometimes while riding the subway, an NYPD officer would take off his hat and I would catch a glimpse of a family photo tucked carefully in a clear plastic pocket on the underside of their hat. It served as a clear reminder to me that all these men and women go to work each shift never knowing if they will return to their loved ones at the end of it. To all the First Responders out there I thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you do.
I believe First Responders are among the most deserving to receive quality care of mind, body, and spirit. They are the first to offer help and the last to ask for it. If you are a First Responder, or know someone that is, please reach out to take advantage of our Lifetime First Responder Rate.
