It was 9am on September 11 2001, I was watching the 'Today show' and saw the events of 9-11 unfold Live...It wasn't clear at that time, until the second plane hit, that it was an intentional act...I was in the midst of a separation and my soon to be ex husband was working in Washington DC in the vicinity of the Pentagon.
My son was safely at school and I made my way to my retail business, which was on a major street..When I got there- people were literally wandering out of their offices and businesses shocked and close to a panic... My little herb store became a refuge for these wandering souls looking for some understanding.
I was on the sidewalk, when a man came up to me, tears streaming. He came up to me and said "Help me, I don't know what to do." I had some cafe tables and chairs set up on the sidewalk and I sat him down and ran to get a glass of water for him. When I returned, he told me a fantastic story.......
He said, "They're dead".. I knew that a lot of people were dying from this tragedy, but I asked "Who is dead"..He said "My company, everyone."...he sobbed and sobbed....He then told me that he was here in Cleveland on business, he was supposed to fly out the last night, but he missed his flight and was getting a plane this afternoon, and the company he worked for was on one of the top floors at the world trade center,where the first plane hit...
He tried to call, but he couldn't get through..
He said "I'm the only one left- I should have been there this morning...why me?" "Why me"..his words trailed off and his grief overtook him...he could not comprehend why he wasn't there; as if he deserved to be there, not that his life was spared in some Divine way... I couldn't do anything but hold him and allow his shock and grief to fill him and spill over, as his mind tried to wrap itself around the reality that was manifesting...
Time stood still and after an hour or so, as people were reporting the continuing horror to include a threat to Cleveland, as the plane bound for Washington circled us here.(Which was inevitably the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania)we all disbursed;Making our way to our loved ones, gathering our children.... and to the safety of our homes..
As he drove away I offered a prayer for him and his coworkers and for his families safety..I never saw that man again....
Today, as I remember this day in history I recall this man and his words "Why me?"
I hope that in the last 8 years he has discovered the answer to that question on that fateful day when everything for him changed...and I believe, will all my faith, that out of Tragedy, great Triumphs are born....
Marianne Goldweber
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