 Reflecting on Terror |
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Tragedy alters all plans,
catches us unprepared
of TheColumnists.com
EARLY THE MORNING of Sept. 11, 2001, my wife and I were rushing back and forth through the rooms of our home in northwest Washington state, trying to get an early start on the two-day drive we were about to make to Santa Cruz, our home town in California. Neither radio nor TV was on, but I stopped long enough to check my email --and saw something bizarre on the AOL home page.
It looked like a scene from a new Bruce Willis or Arnold Schwarzenegger action movie: A commercial airliner crashing into a skyscraper.
I clicked on the email button, then suddenly went back to the home page as it finally dawned on me: This was no movie! Rushing downstairs, I switched on the TV and hollered for Darla to come see what I had found on CNN. Moments later, a second plane had crashed into the other tower of the World Trade Center and I knew the nightmarish scenes were real and our country was suffering its worst-ever enemy attack against the homeland.
It presented me with an immediate dilemma: I HAD to leave for California. I was locked into a promise to serve as master of ceremonies for my high school reunion on Sept. 15. Much more important, though, was another reason to continue the trip regardless of what was going on in the world: We had just received word that a dear family friend was mortally ill in Santa Cruz--and her time might be running out.
In my role as managing editor of this website, I had prepared the next edition to be posted on the Internet the night of Sept. 22, just hours after my scheduled return from California. I now knew much of the material my associates at TheColumnists.com had written for Sept. 23 could not be used because our readers would be in a serious, even glum mood and not likely to enjoy some of the light-hearted columns ready to go online.
At the worst, I thought, I'd have to delay the next edition by a day or so, giving me time to remake all the pages and edit the columns I knew my colleagues would want to write about the terrorist attack. I was wrong. We lost a whole week, which is why this edition is coming to you so late.
At first, I thought my high school reunion might be cancelled because of the national emergency, but the committee decided it was too late to cancel because too many people had already begun their trips to Santa Cruz. Another reason to continue: Months of work had gone into a special tribute honoring two of our classmates who had given their lives in defense of America during the Vietnam War. It seemed the right time to honor such men. Meanwhile, Pres. Bush had begun urging Americans to return to their normal activities. So the reunion went ahead and I had little time to think about my web dilemma.
While this all was going on, we had learned that our dear friend had only days to live. She had raised my wife from infancy until she was nearly four, filling the role of Darla's mother, who had died giving birth to her. Both of us had been accepted into her own family and treated as close relatives. She was very precious to us, so we stayed on in Santa Cruz and were with her when she finally died on Sept. 21. While the nation grieved for the thousands killed by suicidal terrorists, we also grieved for the remarkable woman we lost that week.
Upon my return to Washington, I began to read the columns my colleages had written about the horrifying events that began Sept. 11 and I quickly realized this body of work was truly extraordinary. I couldn't allow it to be lost just because I'd permitted my personal circumstances to halt their timely publication.
So, I urge you to read the columns in this week's special section, even if you feel you've already read or heard all you want to about those events. I promise you that you'll not regret taking the time to read what these marvelous writers have composed out of their anguish and pain over this dark moment in American history.
TheColumnists.com was started
to give some extremely popular and experienced writers the chance
to express themselves more freely than they've ever been able
to express themselves before. What you're about to read is what
we're all about. We hope you'll agree these columns were worth
waiting for.
© 2001 by Ron Miller. The illustration is © 2001 by
Jim Hummel.
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