September 11: Airplanes flying into buildings and a wedding anniversary
September 11, 2001.
My plan for the day was to go to downtown Chicago. I was meeting a friend for lunch. She has recently taken a job as a manager of a telecom company that was located in the Sears Tower. The idea was to catch up with what was going on in our lives and also see if there was an opportunity for me to work with her.
I was just getting ready when the first jet hit the first tower in New York. The news was startling. No one had ever seen anything like it, but that didn't change my plans. I was still heading downtown.
That changed when we all saw the second plane hit the second tower. I knew I wasn't going anywhere. It was less than ten minutes later when I heard from my friend. They were evacuating the building and going home. We'd reschedule for another time.
September 11, 2022.
A few months earlier, I heard from my daughter Amy. She and her fiance Ted had set a wedding date. It was going to happen fast. The wedding will be on September 11. She told me, “At least you’ll always remember my anniversary.”
On the day of their wedding, it rained almost all day. Hard rain. The pre-wedding photos were moved indoors. Disappointing but people made due. Other than that, everything came off as planned. It was a wonderful day. It took your mind off of the other event that occurred on that same date…at least for a few hours.
Every year on September 11, like everyone else, I remember that day in 2001. My friend who worked in the Sears Tower never went back to that building. Her company had its employees working from home for a while. She wasn't ready to do it when they were cleared to come back. The events of that day scarred her enough that she resigned and moved out of Chicago. We never did reschedule lunch.
It’s now one year since the wedding day. Today is my daughter and her husband’s first anniversary. It’s raining here in the Chicago area. There’s a certain symmetry to this. Both for what occurred last year and also twenty-two years ago.
Today, I’m watching some events honoring the almost three thousand people who tragically lost their lives on this date in 2001. I’m also remembering the wedding that happened last year. There’s room for both.