My memories from September 11, 2001
By Stewart Grant
Long before I was in the newspaper business, I still wrote a lot of things down and kept a journal. Social media was not around yet, but lengthy emails to friends and family were a thing, especially for me living on an island away from home. On Sept.11, 2001, I was a 27-year-old living in Bermuda and working as a Chartered Accountant for Marsh, an insurance company. My wife Laurie and I were hosting her parents Gary and Marg who were visiting us at our island home, and we were relieved that Hurricane Erin, the first Atlantic hurricane of 2001, had passed by Bermuda on Sept. 9 without incident.
On Sept. 11, 2001, my parents, Murray and June, were back home in St. Marys while my sister Lori was living in Norway where she was working in finance with General Electric.
I wrote them the following email on the evening of Sept. 11 as I reflected on the horrific events. I just wanted to share this email to take you back 25 years to the thoughts of a regular guy in his 20s living through this when it happened. It’s amazing how when I re-type this email all these years later how the feelings come flooding back.
September 11, 2001, 8:45 am Eastern time, 9:45 am Atlantic Time – I was sitting at my desk when Tom White walked by and told me the news – the World Trade Center had been hit by two airplanes. That’s where I was when the news came. As my internet was down, I called Laurie at work so I could hear the broadcast from her TV over the phone lines to get more details on this shocking news. Following our talk, the next amazing wave of news came around – the Pentagon had also been hit. We at Marsh gathered in the meeting room where we watched the unbelievable news come in on ABC and CBS. For the balance of the morning, we silently stood and sat in shock as the pictures came across the screen. Then at about 12:00, there was a gathering in the training room where we prayed for world peace and had a moment of silence for the dead – about six or seven people got up and prayed aloud. This is when I felt saddest, thinking not only of those who died today but also about what this attack may mean on a grander scale.
Like the Challenger explosion in 1986, like the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, and like the Kennedy assassination in 1963, this unfortunately will forever be a moment captured in time; a moment where everyone knows where they were when in happened.
Somehow though this is scarier than all the other examples above. This was something out of a movie, something surreal – the first half of Independence Day comes to mind.
Hopefully this is not a sign of things to come. Hopefully the terrorist actions which are now common in places like Jerusalem have not permanently found their way into our lives. Hopefully we do not travel in fear of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Hopefully this doesn’t start a chain of events which leads us into World War III.
The amazing thing is, although we are living in Bermuda, Canada, and Norway, we will find that none of us are unaffected by this tragedy.
I probably know people that died today. The Marsh headquarters were in the World Trade Center, floors 95 to 100. Last month I met in person a couple people from the Marsh NY office, including one woman who I’ve spoken with on 10-15 occasions and gotten to know. I hope she was out of the office today.
The largest companies in the world have offices in the World Trade Center. Marsh, Deloitte & Touche, and Arthur Anderson are just the ones I know for sure. Some 50,000 or so work in the World Trade Center I’ve been told, so I’m sure we all know someone who knows someone who was there today.
Once we get over the terrible loss of the people that died, we will be left to deal with the consequences – the emotional impact on the survivors, the impact on the national psyche, and the changes in our lives as a result of this. Travel will definitely be impacted, as we will see increased lines at borders, customs, etc. due to increased searches, questioning, etc. People of certain races are going to be the subject of constant scrutiny just because of their skin colour – for them it might be very difficult.
Well, I don’t know what else to say… I’m probably not thinking clearly anyway. I just wanted to get in touch with my family today and reflect a bit on what has happened. This is not just another news story that captures our interest for awhile, this is very sadly a day in which we have perhaps seen a significant turning point in world history.
Comments