Squawk Radio

Monday, September 11, 2006

Lisa on "9/11"

When a shocking event happens, it’s funny how the details of where you were and how you learned about it seem to stick with you. “More than we can bear,” was how Rudy Giuliani expressed the losses of so many people on 9/11, and the reverberations of that terrible day have not diminished. The pictures on TV . . . the personal recollections of those who lived through it . . . the families and friends who were left behind. . . the heroes who gave their lives, and the courageous workers at Ground Zero . . . all of it still has the power to bring us to tears. And that is only right, and normal. We will never forget.

My parents, my two children and I went on vacation the week before 9/11, and flew back home the night of the 10th. The next morning I woke up, turned on the news and saw the first tower burning. Immediately I called my husband Greg, who was in Vegas at a trade show, and as we were talking and watching TVs simultaneously, we both saw the second plane hit. Greg quickly hung up to try and get a rental car to drive home. No luck. He was stuck in Las Vegas for a week, which is hardly the worst place in the world to be stuck in, but all he wanted was to come home. It was a huge relief for all of us when he finally made it back.

My family knew one person who had a job at the World Trade Center--he was the son of an old family friend, and he worked for a financial firm. This ambitious young man got fired on the Friday before the 11th. He called his Dad right afterward, tearful and worried about his future, convinced that getting fired was the worst thing that had ever happened to him. It turned out that getting fired probably saved his life.

As we think about that day five years ago, and pray for those precious lost souls and those who loved them, and for the soldiers overseas, we know we must appreciate every day we have on this earth. I’m so grateful for the small, ordinary pleasures of life . . . the hugs from the children, the emails from friends . . . and all the countless things we often take for granted.

Where were you on 9/11? How did you find out, and what were your thoughts?
Lisa Kleypas, 10:51 AM
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