Tomorrow marks the eighth anniversary of the day none of us will ever forget but for the most part has left us unchanged. I was brought up believing that from evil will come good and perhaps there were some immediate positive effects, but those wore off long ago and I am sorry to say we are probably no better off than we were eight years and one day ago.

Where Were You on 9-11?

That day is likely permanently etched in all our minds forever. My wife and I were attending the Pack Expo show in Las Vegas and were scheduled to fly back, early that morning. As we left our hotel and climbed in a cab headed for the airport, the driver casually mentioned that a plane had flown into one of the twin towers in NYC. We all of course assumed it was a terrible accident because how else could something like that possibly happen? The tension at the airport was palpable and before we even got to our gate, we heard the announcement over the loud speakers that all flights were cancelled. We soon found out about the second plane and the second World Trade Center tower and suddenly we all knew this was no freak accident.

We were told to go back to our hotels and check with our airlines to reschedule our flights but of course no one believed what was unfolding before our very eyes. Soon we were back in our hotel watching the big screen televisions in a crowded sports book room that were all playing non-stop news accounts of what was happening on the other end of the country. We stared in disbelief and soon found ourselves marooned in the party capital of the world, at a time when it was impossible to enjoy it.

The Long Way Home

We wound up staying in Las Vegas until that following Friday when out of sheer frustration, lack of definitive answers from the airlines, and no rental cars available, we purchased a car and drove it home.

To say the trip was surreal is a gross understatement because it seemed nothing was the same anymore. What was crowded streets and highways a week ago were virtually empty and we could sense a unique blend of fear and kindness, everywhere we went and every place we stopped. Perhaps for the first time we all realized how vulnerable we were and how we were all in it together.

Nothing Good Lasts Forever

Even after we finally arrived back in Chicago we could feel an unprecedented kinship and a gentleness that even manifested itself at stop signs and doorways when people usually in a hurry and quick to butt in front of each other, were patient and even offered to wait. We all remember the tide of patriotism and how proudly we all felt as one, maybe for the first and only time. I will never forget the public prayers, the incredible acts of heroism or the tears that were shed for people we did not even know.

Eight years later the president who led us through that most difficult time has been cast aside, and it is sad to say that may have been the high water mark for his presidency. The rude behavior is back and “it’s every man to himself” in almost any situation or place. It takes a lot longer to work your way through an airport check in and it is a little more expensive to fly anywhere. Patriotism as well as public prayer is once again “un-cool” and I regret it seems we have mostly reverted back to our pre 9-11 ways.

I would not want our country to relive and go through the pain and heartache of that day under any circumstances but I do miss what we had afterwards for a just a short while.

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