THE 23rd ANNIVERSARY OF THE 9-11 TRAGEDY BY NIKKI HOFFMAN

THE 23rd ANNIVERSARY OF THE 9-11 TRAGEDY

Flying at night is not my favorite thing to do. But with a nine-hour business flight from the West Palm Beach airport to São Paulo, Brazil, it seemed like the best option. The plane touched down in the morning light of September 11, 2001.

Upon my arrival, I took a taxi to the hotel. I walked into the lobby, thinking about the meetings scheduled for the day. A guest watched a black and white television playing from the back of the room. He seemed entirely mesmerized by what was on the screen.

Behind the check-in counter, a young girl observed my passport. “Have you heard what happened,” she whispered in broken English. “A terrible crash. Speak to the American sitting by the television.”

On the small screen, towers collapsed into smoke and rubble after a plane plowed through the upper floors. At first, my mind went to a bad movie. I half expected a giant, mechanical monster to appear behind the mountains of dust. The guest, a fellow American, transfixed by the broadcast, explained what was happening. Nothing in my lifetime had prepared me to accept a terrorist attack on American soil. Wasn’t our country sacrosanct? Weren’t we raised with a solid sense of safety and invincibility in these United States?

It took ten days before my international flight was cleared to return. As Americans on board, we spoke softly to one another, trying to make sense of or accept this profound tragedy. On 9-11, I am reminded of our American resolve as well as the human cost of this disaster that reverberates twenty-three years later. What was your experience? How have these events changed you?