Early September 2001.
For a number of reasons, I was quite burned out with the automobile business and particularly disgusted with the fellow that had the majority interest in the dealership I worked for at the time.
A good friend and former co-worker, Al, had been in Florida for a conference with his employer, Parker Hannifin, and spent some time with us.
Al raved about his job, indicated that there was plenty of opportunity if I had any interest in making a career change.
The 1st week of September, with my permission, Al passed my contact info along to the HR department of Parker who immediately reached out to gauge my level of interest in an interview - particularly as the Vice President of the division Al worked for happened to be in Tampa and was eager to speak with me.
Sara and I had talked about it beforehand and decided that I should at least “knock on the door” and see what might happen. A meeting was arranged for the mid afternoon of Friday September 7th.
The interview / meeting went well, was very positive and at the conclusion, my interviewer asked me directly if I was ready to take the next step.
That step would be an interview with the gent that would be my direct supervisor. The company would arrange for me to travel to meet with him.
I agreed.
As Parker Hannifin is based in Cleveland Ohio, I incorrectly concluded that I would be traveling to Cleveland. As I was returning home from Tampa that afternoon I received a call from the HR Department indicating that travel plans had been put in place for the next interview which would be at approximately 11:00 on Tuesday 9/11/2001 in the corporate office in Newark NJ. I would be leaving Sarasota early that morning and flying directly to Newark, arriving about 10:00 and would be met by someone from the office who would fetch me around for the interview.
Everything happened very quickly and as these arrangements were relayed to me, I began to have a great deal of apprehension about traveling on that particular morning. By the time I got home and spoke with Sara the feeling was full blown. I called back the HR contact and asked if they could please postpone by one week to September 18th. She graciously complied.
Tuesday morning, September 11th.
I was at the car dealership at my usual time of 8:00. The mornings were generally quiet - particularly during the week.
I was at my desk catching up on various calls etc. simply hanging out in the showroom waiting for customers. Moments after the plane collided with the first tower, someone ran into the showroom from the service department waiting room where customers had been watching the morning shows, and told us what had happened. We all quickly headed back there to see the news. We were watching the broadcast when the second plane hit at 9:03. From that moment on we were glued to the television and listening to the radio for any updates we could get.
It felt like the world was ending. The uncertainty and rage at what was happening was something I had never felt before. For the first time in my life the sense of security of “being an American” in the United States was shattered. We were vulnerable in ways that we had never imagined.
As the morning progressed, we heard about the attack on the Pentagon and the plane that went down in Pennsylvania. My father-in-law saw what he believed to be that very aircraft as it flew over Middlefield Ohio. Airliners routinely fly over the area at high altitude - this one was extraordinarily low. Apparently it had been hijacked just before it hit Cleveland airspace and circled away from Cleveland heading back toward Washington DC. He was sitting on his front porch when it thundered over.
We couldn’t believe everything that was happening. It seemed everyone was frantically calling their family members - checking on their whereabouts - making sure they were OK - just wanting to get home, to be together. As if somehow being together would re-establish that lost sense of security.
The emotions of the morning were especially compounded to me. The foreboding that had prevailed upon me to postpone my travel plans was vivid in my memory. There was no denying that I had experienced a Divine Intervention. The Lord had prevented me from traveling that morning. While the flight I had been scheduled for was not part of the terrorist attacks, it would have most certainly been diverted from Newark and grounded somewhere as soon as air traffic control realized what was taking place. It would have most likely been impossible to return home for several days and who know’s where I might have been stuck.
As if that wasn’t enough to deal with we were keeping a close eye on on a tropical system that was just offshore south Florida. On September 13th, Hurricane Gabrielle formed in the Gulf and by the 14th it made landfall in our area flooding streets along with some minimal wind damage. Of course in light of what was happening in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington DC, the storm never really received much attention in the news cycle.
One week later on the 18th I flew out of Sarasota airport first thing in the morning on what I believe was the first flight out - post attack.
The atmosphere on the plane was very somber.
A couple hours later as we were approaching New Jersey, the flight path took us along the Hudson river. As the plane approached New York City and Newark we could see a significant amount of smoke still emanating from the wreckage of what was once the Twin Towers. As we got closer the acrid smell of that smoke penetrated the aircraft cabin. There wasn’t a sound from anyone on the plane - just the jet engines and control noises. We couldn't believe what our eyes were seeing. What our country had just experienced.
Due to the massive increase in airport security it was determined it would be better to meet with my potential new boss at the airport. Logistics of getting into any airport or on a plane had become extremely complex and the company was concerned about my return flight that afternoon.
We met in one of the coffee shops, had a productive time but the number of armed military men, security forces and bomb sniffing dogs was surreal. We had never seen anything that compared in our lifetimes. It was disconcerting to say the least.
I got the job.
We relocated to Massachusetts in early October 2001. It was an uncertain time, particularly for Sara and I, as we were adjusting to the huge reality of a lost sense of confidence in our country’s security, our relocation and adjustment to a new job and isolation from literally everyone we knew. The Lord saw us through some very difficult challenges and as is always the case - He worked all things together for His Glory and our good.
We have a son and daughter in law in Massachusetts and two wonderful grandchildren - Cole and Emmaline!