A 9/11 Story

Over at Kos there's a thread on personal 9/11 rememberances. Here's mine.

I learned about the attacks while in bed with my fiancee. It was 2 1/2 weeks from our wedding. We were in San Francisco, and we actually had a little fight the night before. We awoke when hearing my mom on the answering machine saying, "We're under attack! They hit the World Trade Center!" My fiancee and I immediately looked at each other and hugged and apologized. It was a silly, meaningless fight in the context of what was happening right then.

Like everyone, I sleepwalked through that day. I watched the coverage and then went to work for a few hours until we were all told to go home. I was then at a television station (TechTV) that nobody was watching that day anyway, though they tried to carry on with live news coverage.

The biggest thing about those next few days was the fact that I had dozens of people who were supposed to come to my wedding from the East Coast, and nobody knew when flights would resume or how many people would decide against flying. I had numerous conversations with family members and friends who were struggling with the decision of whether or not to fly. I also remember that the following weekend there was some allegedly credible report about blowing up the Golden Gate Bridge, and I had to go over it for some wedding-related thing. Needless to say it didn't happen.

In the end, most people did show up to the wedding, though a couple didn't and I understood. I didn't pressure anyone. My thank you speech was partly a tribute to those who came in from Philadelphia, Florida, Western Pennsylvania, Washington, and New York to celebrate my union.

(This would be a better story if I was still married)

I may delve back in to politics later, but I wanted to just give a quiet reflection on this day.