I'll start:

I was schedule to attend a trade show (Graph Expo) in Chicago with 3 colleagues on 9/11. Our flight from Newark to O’Hare (CO 1179, scheduled departure of 7:45AM) was delayed by the usual morning taxiway traffic (as was United 93, which never made it to the intended target as a result). I remember being angry that I was wedged into a window seat in coach (I think I was Gold at the time and often got the EUA to ORD, but not this time).

September 11th was a picture-perfect day with bright blue skies, and as we approached the turn to take off, the pilot came on the intercom and said, “It’s a beautiful day today and those of you sitting on the right side of the aircraft will get a spectacular view of the New York skyline”. Never before or since 9/11 have I had a pilot make such an announcement. The passengers, mostly business people, all but ignored his observation, not realizing that, by the time our flight landed in Chicago, we would be told that both towers had fallen and the world would never be the same again. I still get chills telling this story, wondering how the pilot decided to make this unusual observation on the day that the NY skyline would change forever.

When we landed in ORD, we still had no idea what had happened that day. Apparently our plan was close enough to ORD so that we did not have to divert to the closest airport when they grounded all aircraft. I remember noticing clearly that the plane took an unusual taxi from the runway to the gate, hugging the outer edges of the airport. When we got to the gate, the pilot came on the intercom and announced, "I have something to tell you that will upset you and will change your day". Then something about planes hitting the twin towers and the towers falling down. There was no way to comprehend what he was telling us. We deplaned, and ORD was a ghost town. All the TV's had been turned off. Everyone jumped on their cell phones to call their loved ones and to find out what had happened. Stories were passed around, "They crashed into the FBI, the CIA, the Pentagon".

We quickly cancelled our business plans and went to the Hertz rental area to get our "reserved" car and drive home. The line extended all around the complex, as many had not returned their cars as planned. After waiting hopelessly in line, I decided to see if I could work another angle, and somehow got a Hertz employee to help. He said to meet me at parking space 56 (and I'm thinking, why does he have to meet me there?). We get there - the car is a subcompact for the 4 of us, and he tells us that the battery needs to be jumped. We were so happy to have a car, we didn't argue. He jumped the car and off we went, stopping at the O'Hare oasis for Burger King (not because we were hungry, but because we had to eat). I remember us trying to decide whether to leave the engine running when we went inside to eat.

We then began our journey east to NJ, listening non-stop to the radio coverage of the day's events. In South Bend, we decided to see if we could get a larger car (we were way to big for this tiny car). I went into the desolate South Bend airport, where I first saw video of the towers falling. I convinced the Hertz clerk to trade our clown car for a "luxurious" Taurus - and it made a big difference. We spent the night somewhere in Ohio (watching President Bush address the nation in the lobby as we checked in).

We continued on the next day to NY, and to awaiting neighborhoods of concerned, welcoming, relieved families and neighbors. Especially my wife, who initially heard from Peter Jennings at the beginning of the day that a Continental jet on the way to Chicago was one of the planes involved.