As Tracy and I sat with the kids in Lane 5 at Huggy’s last weekend, my thoughts turned to the grand opening of the bowling centre.
Star-FM had been on the air just over a year at that time, when Trevor finished construction of his new business just off 18th Street South, and threw a big party to celebrate.Media, dignitaries, suppliers and special guests all attended.
I remember this party because it was Sept. 10, 2001. the last day of the care-free ’90s.the last day of no hyper-security; a driver’s license would get you across the border; life was good.
At least life was normal. I had fun that night. We had some laughs and went home for a good night sleep, not knowing how the world would change in less than 12 hours.
As many stories of Sept. 11 start, mine too was "a day like any other" — up at 4:30 a.m., at work for 5:30 a.m. and on-air with a day filled with nothing special but kids and parents still attempting to get back into routine after summer vacation.
I remember hearing the news yelled across the hallway at the radio station: "A plane just flew into the World Trade Center" and I remember asking "How foggy is it in new York today?"
Believe it or not, everything carried on as normal, and we all thought it was a terrible accident. that was, until the second plane went into Tower Two.
The following are a few things that I will never forget about that day, and how it impacted our lives forever.
First, I remember looking at the news wire in our control room, which is the Canadian Press stories fed to news outlets across the country, and had never seen so many URGENT-URGENT-URGENT headlines in my career. everything on the wire was labeled urgent, and it was like we couldn’t keep up.
After the second plane crashed, things started happening fast. I will never forget Chrissy Troy, coming in early for her mid-day shift, her shaken voice and nearly in tears asking, "Tyler is this the end of the world?"
I looked at the wire. More planes were in the air, ready to attack, the U.S. Vice-President had been moved, the President was in an undisclosed location, and nobody knew exactly how many planes were in the air.
I said, "Don’t worry, everything will be fine. but I guarantee you we will remember where we were and what we were doing today. this is big."
I remembered the Princess Di tragedy from just a few years earlier, and how that day was also etched in our minds forever.
The day unfolded with more updates: the U.S. Air Force was given permission to shoot down threatening passenger planes; the Pentagon crash; the crash in Pennsylvania; and of course the towers collapsing.
Like most people in the media business,I have never experienced a day more tragic than Sept. 11.
My attention, and concern, turned to my sister in Winnipeg, working at the TD Tower at the time, and Canada’s decision to accept planes from around the world prohibited from landing in the U.S. I thought, what if all tall buildings in all cities were targeted?
Thankfully, that was not the case, but I will never forget looking into the clear blue September sky and seeing nothing. everything was grounded until further notice.
I remember getting into my car in the Shopper’s Mall parking lot, looking up and seeing nothing. there was nothing in the sky for days.
Going home from work on Sept. 11 meant going home to turn on the TV. I remember watching the images, and how I couldn’t turn them off.
There were many tears in our household, as we looked at our two-year-old son playing in front of the TV and thought of the parents lost, the heroes now gone.
Overwhelmed with sadness and not sure what to do, I marched down to the mall to buy an American flag, and hung it from my porch that night. I don’t know exactly why, but I thought it might be my way of saying "We’re with you" and "this is horrible".
I will never forget a man knocking on my front door. as I answered, he simply said, "is this your house?" I said yes, and he asked if I was American. I said no. Tearing up, the man said "Thank-you, thank-you so much. I am American, and this is so terrible. this means a lot."
I responded with, "I’m so sorry." He simply shook my hand and walked away from my porch.
I never did see this man in my neighborhood again, but felt good knowing I could bring comfort to at least one person affected by this tragedy.
My final memories are of the smoke, the dust, the horrible scenes of lower Manhattan in the hours and days following the tragedy. I remember looking at my wife and saying, "Poor Lady Liberty. How upset she wouldbe if she were real, standing there to witness this horrible day. Poor Liberty."
They say children whisper their names into their parents’ ear before they are born, and it was at that moment, I turned to Tracy and said "if we ever have a baby girl, I think we should name her Liberty."
Knowing full well she may not "look" like a Liberty when born, we had backup names, but on Dec. 8, 2003 our little Libby, or "Liberty" was born.
This summer we took Liberty and David to the International Peace Garden to once again look at the tangled wreck of steel.
As we look back 10 years later, the events of that day changed our lives and changed the world. Two wars, Canadian casualties in Afghanistan, and countless sacrifice.
Liberty is freedom and freedom is never free. 911 was once simply known as the number to call in an emergency. little did we know, a morning in September would add new meaning to 911 that would change the world forever.
Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition September 10, 2011