Hi, Gramps! The headline scared me!
On 9-11, I was in Mississippi, just 15 minutes away from going to the airport to return to Oregon. What was to have been a 4 day weekend turned into a 10 day long vacation! Believe me, I almost rented a car to drive home, but hubby wouldn't let me make the trip. ;o(
The flight home was surreal. Very few passengers on the planes, and the airports (especially DFW) seemed empty. Some businesses at DFW had already closed shop...permently. While the flight attendants were pleasant, the pilots looked as though they hadn't slept in weeks! And, bless their hearts, they profusly thanked us for flying with them. BTW, I flew on American, so it was understandable that they were jumpy.
Can we change the title on this thread to indicate that it's an older thread and not a current event?
Our mayor and members of the city council were in DC and were to go to the House that day for meetings.
They were in a motel just outside of DC near the Pentagon.
They had to rent a van to get home and couldn't rent one for about a day.
Another friend was in Indiana, and he didn't get home until 5 days later.
Our next door neighbors were in London and were to have flown home on 9/12, and they didn't get home for 10 days.
Another friend was on a plane returing home from England when the mass murders of 9/11 happened. Their plane was scheduled to land in JFK mid morning on 9/11. They were diverted to Newfoundland. She remembers looking out her window and watching an American fighter jet flying along side. It was replaced by two Canadian jets at the border.
They knew nothing about what had happened until after they had deboarded and were herded into a lobby. Then they were told. One of her friends lost a family member in the WTC. She still has nightmares.