Chilling

Sometimes it's the small decisions that determine our fate. These 9/11 survivors are a testament to that.

My own decision to go to work that day was no where near as dramatic, but strange nonetheless. As Communications Manager for the local Red Cross blood bank, I had been on medical leave for pneumonia since just before the previous Labor Day weekend, and not expected back until Monday, September 17, 2001.

Feeling better and noting the beauty of the day, I went into work to check emails and voicemails - both of which I could do from home but I wanted to show my face. I figured I'd do half a day and be ready for a long nap that afternoon.

I distinctly remember looking up at the sky around the time I arrived (a little before 9 AM) and thinking to myself, "What am I doing here? It's gorgeous and warm. I should be out on the back porch in the chaise lounge baking this illness out of me." I was still unaware of what had happened, as were my co-workers.

The first sign of something amiss was when a co-worker's training when the local Red Cross chapter took the room over for the TV so they could watch the news about a plane hitting the WTC. I was reminded of reading about a small plane hitting the Empire State Building many decades earlier and thought this was similar. We put out a small $25 TV to watch the coverage and joined it just in time to see United Flight 175 hit the second tower.

Everything else that day is pretty much a blur. The phones went dead until about 11 AM, then started ringing off the hook for hours. I did numerous TV, radio and newspaper interviews. I called my mom to check on my brother who worked in NYC. He was fine, thankfully.

I still wonder what made me go to work that particular day. I know I worked 19 days straight after that. More on that as the week progresses.