The sun sets on another day…
The sky was clear and crisp. Blue hues gave way to complex oranges and deep reds, and I enjoyed the moments. Every second was a new journey through a color wheel, and I felt awesome about it as twilight carried it home.
In May of 2001, I ate dinner at Windows over the World. I was there representing a pharmaceutical research company that was rolling out a new late phase study. Even though it was may it was cold and windy and while on top of the tower I was amazed that you could feel the sway of the building as you looked from such a height. I will never forget that night and I talked about it often for the next few months.
On the morning of 9/11, I was interviewing a candidate for a project manager position at the same company. It was going to be an exciting position as our company was growing fast. I was employee number 13 of a company that would reach far larger. I always felt was lucky as I had the responsibility of building a team for electronic data capture, compliance, and a series of other technologies that would evolve over the next 10 years. I was only a few minutes into the interview when another employee burst into the conference room yelling “Oh my God Oh my God.”
The candidate and I tried to calm them down and they brought in a small television and turned it on and for the next half hour we watched the towers fall. We were calling everyone and trying to figure out what was going on. Schools were dismissed as the country panicked and the world watched in horror as two mighty structures covered everything in dust. I was watching television live when the second plane hit. There was something very deep in all of it, and we all felt it.
If you were wondering, the candidate did get hired, and they stayed for quite a long time. That day is forever etched in all of our memories. I had numerous people call me making sure I was not on one of those planes. At that point in my career, I was flying back and forth to New York quite a bit and there were concerns.
Perhaps I dodged a bullet, perhaps it was just luck, but I will always remember that day and the deep feelings that I had for it. Every time a clock says 911 or I see the three numbers in a row, I remember. Every time I’m on a plane, I remember. That day changed our world forever. I’m happy that I’m still here.
So as the sun sets on another day, I hope you have memories of this time and I hope you realize How lucky we all are and how wonderful the world can be. Keep remembering and be awesome always, no matter what.
Sleep sweet, love life, and remember…