Most Are Remembering Sept 11th but why I'll remember Sept 10th

I was married Sept 11th 1993 (that status has since changed).  We chose that date because Sept was a great time to travel.  We always went away for our anniversary in the years following.

10 years ago we flew into St. John's NFLD on Sept 10th and stayed with (my then) husband's family.  After a long flight with a two year old we headed to bed early (remember NFLD time is ahead of Ontario).

We we awoke the next day there were already reports of the 1st tower being hit by a plane.  At that point most suspected it was some sort of plane malfunction.  I was watching the updates about it & as they went live to the spot to show the damage.  As they were showing a live spot of the smoke coming from the first tower the second tower was hit.

I froze

I couldn't believe it.  

and then I freaked.  I went running through the house tellling everyone what just happened.

That's when our vacation became so different.  No longer a holiday, no longer celebrating our anniversary,but a place of worry far away from home.

You see the planes were diverted from airspace to Newfoundland.

All the phone lines were jammed.  If you picked up a phone there was no dial tone just dead air.

We were to go visit the St. John's Arena as the Maple Leafs were to hold a practice there in preseason.  That's when learned that the arena was now being used as a shelter for those who were stranded.

I mean stranded!

Then it hit me.  What if we had flown in one day later.  Where would we be?  We couldn't land in St John's because their airport was full.
It it hit me like a ton of bricks.  What if I had to stay in an arena with a toddler.  What would have happened?  All the crazy things that run through your mind.

Thankfully the people of St. John's opened up their homes to the people who had been on the diverted planes.  Everywhere we went people were asking us if we had a place to stay (because we didn't have an East Coast accent).  It was overwhelming the kindness that I saw.

Then we learned we too were stranded on the island.

A monsoon hit the area when we were there.  With the planes' wings hitting each other the City of St. John's annouced that no planes would be leaving until all the USA diverted planes leave.

Thankfully I'm a prepared Mom & brought an extra medication that my son requires daily.

Every morning for days I had to call into the airport, be put on hold for hours to figure out if we could be on a standby list.

I can't even remember how many extra days we were there. Most of what took place during that time is a blur.
Thankfully we were staying with family. 

So while everyone else remembers Sept 11th I'm always thankfull that we had flown on Sept 10