My September 11 Story

It was a beautiful fall day on Wisconsin’s Door Peninsula - not a cloud in the sky. My Sheltie companion Charlie and I were walking in a small park in a small town called Sister Bay. A man approached us across the parking lot and told me he had been watching TV in his motel room. He thought it was a movie about a burning skyscraper, like “The Towering Inferno” when an airplane hit the building next to it and he realized it was not a movie. The date was September 11, 2001 - the day everything changed.

I had left home the previous day on my way to a computer convention in Des Moines. Charlie and I would be spending a couple days with my cousin Bryan. We had come through Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and had spent the previous night sleeping in my van in a campground. I had planned to ignore the news for a couple days and just relax and enjoy the journey. It would prove to be difficult.

As I walked back to the van that morning, my brain was filled with many conflicting thoughts. Would the convention still be held? Should I turn around and head back home? What will happen now? I decided to continue my journey and just take one day at a time. I did not turn on the radio. I stopped once for gas and saw many people watching TV inside the store. I did glance at it and saw the buildings burning. I paid for my fuel and left. On the way I noticed long lines at some gas stations. I looked at the prices to see if they were cheap but they were not. It took a while before I realized people were starting to hoard.

 I stopped for the night at a campground just before the Iowa border and the man at the office said “Well the World Trade Center is gone”. After getting to my campsite I finally took a look at TV and saw that plane hit that tower over and over again. That was enough for me and I went to bed.

The convention was canceled because nobody could fly. I did spend a couple days at Bryan’s house before heading back home. On the way back I saw many towns flying flags. My parents generation had Pearl Harbor and December 7 to remember. We have the World Trade Center and September 11. My hope is that future generations will not have a date like this to remember.