9.11.01. it's on everyone's minds today, understandably. in my public policy class today, we opened by having everyone share their 9/11 stories and how it has changed our world, as well as how it has changed our definition of leadership. here is my story.
when my dad moved back east after my parents' divorce, he used to call my brother and i every morning for school. he was our wake-up call. and on monday, september 10th, my dad (who was living in boston already at this point) told me that he was heading to new york later in the day for meetings at the world trade center. it was a pretty normal occurrence, he traveled a lot for his job and routinely commuted between nyc and boston. he'd stay with my nanny, see friends and family, spend time in the city. not a bad deal. on tuesday, september 11th, i woke up to the sound of my mom running up the stairs. her voice was frantic, and told me a plane had hit the world trade center. she turned on the small tv in the corner of my room and we sat on my bed together and watched the coverage, including the 2nd plane hit. i don't remember crying or knowing what to feel besides numbness.
i started calling my dad's cell phone. no signal. phone lines, satellites were down all around new york and i couldn't get anything besides a busy signal when i called his number. i didn't know what to do with myself, so i started getting ready to go to school as if it were a normal day. i had the tv on watching the news coverage when the first tower collapsed. i dropped my curling iron it landed on my foot. i fell on the floor and cried.
in school i belonged to a group called BIONICs, which was a peer counseling group. it just so happened that was my first class of the day on the 11th, so when i got to school i walked into class. our principal was in the classroom, talking to us about what happened and explaining how we could respond to students who were greatly affected. no one in the classroom happened to know that my father was in new york, missing as far as i knew. i left class about halfway through and started calling my grandparents - but the phones were still down. i couldn't get a hold of anyone in my family.
but what i'll never forget about that day was when my cell phone finally rang. i was sitting in BIONICs (i was in that class all day before we were dismissed early) when i looked down at my ringing cell phone and saw my dad's phone number. i ran out of the class room and answered the phone outside. neither one of us spoke, but both just sat on either end of the phone crying.
it wasn't until later i would learn that my dad never even made it to new york on the 10th as he had told me. a huge fight with his then-wife caused him to stay the night in boston, and he decided instead to take a flight out to new york on tuesday morning. he re-scheduled his early morning meeting for a mid-morning meeting. he never made it. and i can't imagine my life now if he had made it to that meeting.
my family did lose a good friend of ours though -
david silver. he and his wife holli were a part of our family in new york for a long time. my best memory of david was him dressing up as santa claus on christmas, even though he incredibly tall and thin (and jewish).
it was rough to talk about this all in front of class this morning; like lots of americans recalling the evens of that day make me very emotional. but talking about it in class this morning in direct relation to politics and leadership opened the doors to lots of great conversations. tolerance and helping those in need are two huge reasons why i'm in the new directions program, and even though i gave my weekend up, i loved every minute of our discussions so far. i'm excited to see where i go next.
and as for 9/11... never forget. i saw a quote online the other day - a person dies two deaths; one when their eyes close, and again when their name is said for the last time.
