I'm in Iowa City this week giving training, so happy that Ann send me another of her guest blogs. ~Judy
The Day Before, Remembering September 10, 2001
The world is filled with “if only” when an accident, death or tragedy occurs. I often think about this with my Dad, “what if I had said no to hospital discharge or why didn’t I take him back earlier to the doctor? That got me thinking and I ran across a USA Today article titled “The Day Before” USA Today article by Rick Hampson (published September 11, 2002). Wow, all I can say is wow! God works in mysterious ways, some were saved by an intervention, others had a chance to enjoy their loved ones and others, well one can only imagine. Thank you Judy for posting the article (in abbreviated form).
“The Day Before”
USA Today article by Rick Hampson, September 11, 2002).
For some, Sept. 10 was the last day of an era. For 3,031 people who would be at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and on four hijacked airliners the next day, it was the last day of life. The Monday before Sept. 11 was like any other day, and unlike any other. Here is how it went for some.
The sun rises at 6:32 on the East Coast. In New York, the day's high of 86 degrees is recorded at 2 p.m. The Yankees are 13 games ahead of the Red Sox. They play tonight at Yankee Stadium with Roger Clemens going for his 20th win. The day's horoscope for Virgos (born Aug. 23-Sept. 22): "There are major upheavals afoot. ... Even if your life is thrown into turmoil over the next 48 hours, something good will come of it eventually."
A 7-pound abandoned newborn girl, found in Central Park by a homeless man, is in good condition at a hospital. The New York City Opera is preparing for Tuesday night's opening of Wagner's Flying Dutchman. Michael Jackson is playing Madison Square Garden, his first live performance in the continental USA since 1989.
The mayor attends a firehouse rededication in the South Bronx, where the Rev. Mychal Judge, a fire department chaplain, talks about firefighting: "You have no idea when you get on that rig. No matter how big the call, no matter how small, you have no idea what God is calling you to."
On Staten Island, a fire captain named Joe Farrelly understands. He always leaves a love note for his wife when he goes to work. Today he writes: "I can't begin to tell you how much I love you. ... Already I can't wait to come home." Then he heads for a 24-hour shift at his firehouse in lower Manhattan.
Tomorrow, a far more horrible act will destroy entire Trade Center and kill 2,798 in the towers and the jets. A small group of people atop the south tower will escape. But in the north tower, all 1,360 above the 91st floor will die. For them, Sept. 10 is the last time they will ever walk out at closing time, ride home on the train, eat dinner with the family, fight over the remote. It's the last bedtime story, the last kiss good night.
For them, what the world will call "the day before" is the last day. This is how some of them lived it.
It's the first day on the job for insurance disaster specialist Scott Vasel, who is thrilled with the view of the Hudson River from his desk on the 97th floor of the north tower. It's a seemingly lucky day for Greg Clark, who survives layoffs that claim two dozen of his colleagues on the 104th floor. And it's a seemingly unlucky one for Paul Beatini, who has to stay home with his two little girls because his wife has a meeting. This morning, he plays Barbie's bakeshop. Tomorrow morning, he has a meeting on the 105th floor.
Brooke Rosenbaum and Will Raub are both home sick but determined to go in the next day. Rosenbaum, a friend will say, felt that without him, "the whole place would fall apart." Telmo Alvear, a dinnertime waiter at Windows on the World, the restaurant atop the north tower, agrees to cover breakfast the next morning for another waiter. Dorothy Chiarchiaro, who normally works Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in an office down on the 93rd floor, stays home today with her two granddaughters. She'll go in Tuesday instead.
John Cruz, who works on the 101st floor, sets his wedding date: Sept. 21, 2002. Joseph Romagnolo, whose office is four floors above, calls his father to say he's selling his motorcycle — which he loves and his wife hates — and is buying a camper the family can enjoy.
The Last night, the sun sets at 7:06 p.m., but no one sees it in New York City. A thunderstorm dumps .41 of an inch of rain and floods the field at Yankee Stadium.
In Dunellen, N.J., Lydia Bravo, who works on the 94th floor of the north tower, makes Tuscan stew for herself and her husband. In Yonkers, Joanna Vidal is so busy arranging a conference for Tuesday morning at Windows on the World that she eats standing up in her parents' kitchen. Shreyas Ranganath, who's come from India to work on a three-month project on the 97th floor, shares a feast of Indian delicacies with two roommates in Hackensack, N.J., to celebrate the birthday of Krishna, the Hindu god.
Tim Grazioso, who works up on 105th, drives to Clifton, N.J., to take his mother out for a belated 66th birthday dinner. Karen Joyce Klitzman, who works on the same floor, is supposed to have dinner with her mother. But she gets a message saying her mother can't make it, that they'll have to reschedule. In the Bronx, Joe Kelly, who works on the 105th floor of the north tower, has taken his sons, ages 8 and 6, to the Yankees game. The rain has stopped, and they wait to find out if the field is dry enough for play.
Bojan Kostic, who grew up in Belgrade, recites the names of the original 13 states to prepare for his citizenship test. Michael Asher shows his son a picture of an old Jaguar that he wants to rebuild. Martin Lizzul, who always calls his parents Wednesday night to say hello, for some reason calls them tonight. At 8:50 p.m., the Yankees game is canceled, but Kelly's sons are having a good time anyway, feasting on chicken fingers and Coke. In a moment of weakness, Dad buys the older boy a "Boston Sucks" T-shirt. Kelly's happy for a different reason. A week ago, he and his wife learned she's pregnant with their fifth child.
In the Kelly family, Joe takes the photos. As a result, he appeared in only two of the 195 pictures from their vacation at Disney World. But tonight, a family friend snaps a shot of father and sons together. In Verona, N.J., Bill Erwin is just back from Cape Cod with his wife and 2-month-old son. He stays up late, folding two baskets of freshly laundered baby clothes. It's a surprise his wife will discover the next morning as he's en route to his office high in the north tower. Kelly, meanwhile, calls his wife on Long Island to say he and the boys are driving home from the stadium. This is goodbye. She'll be asleep before they get back. The next morning he'll leave to catch the 6:14 from Hicksville to Manhattan before she's awake.
At Windows on the World, Marisa DiNardo Schorpp dances until after midnight at the birthday party she arranged for her mother. Schorpp, a natural gas trader, will be tired the next morning. But she has a meeting at her office two floors below. On Monday Night Football, the Giants-Broncos game ends well after midnight in the East. Some viewers grumble about going to bed late. Tomorrow, some who work at the Trade Center will give thanks for getting in late. The skies clear as a front moves through. Tuesday will be a perfect late summer day.
I’m left speechless, in tears and realizing that my intervention taking Dad home was a blessing. He got to come to my home on March 29, 2011, we had dinner together (rare), watched Dancing With The Stars together then he went off to bed. March 30, 2011 he’s hospitalized and you know the rest of the story. Yes, God works in mysterious ways.
Chat later,
That Girl, Ann Marie
......and Reminder to Fly the Flag on September 11th
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