Remembering
Nearly everyone who was around on September 11, 2001, has a picture in their mind that represents what they experienced the day of the terrorist attacks. It might be the firefighters raising the flag on the rubble of the World Trade Center, the image of the towers crumbling to the ground, or the faces of people running to escape the clouds of smoke and ash that blew through the streets of lower Manhattan when the towers fell. While I can bring up those images in my mind, the one that haunts me is the sight of a signboard on an exit from the New York State Thruway that said, “ALL ENTRANCES AND EXITS TO NEW YOUR CITY ARE CLOSED.” And behind the sign in the distance hung a huge plum of white smoke. At the time, I was working for the American Cancer Society in New York and New Jersey. I supported staff and volunteers in both states and happened to have two meetings I was asked to attend on September 11. For no particular reason that I can remember, I chose the meeting being held in Albany ...