9/11/2001 

Every September thousands of people attend the US Open in Flushing Meadows, Queens. This year was no different. The women’s final was two American sisters, Venus and Serena. Through the years they have been dominating the women’s tennis tournaments.  It was a great match; it was just unfortunate that only one of them could win.

My husband joined a few friends and watched the US Open live while I was back home in Indiana. You see he was in New York for a conference and was spending the evening with friends prior to beginning the conference.   It was a typical Saturday night event.

Fast forward just a couple of days to Tuesday. It started as any normal Tuesday for me. I was working at Conseco Capital Management. My job was a lot of things, and part of it was pricing $28 billion assets under management. Yes, I dealt with traders and brokers many of them from New York City, some in the trade buildings and others on Wall Street in Manhattan.

I was working at my cube as I normally did that Tuesday morning. But then I got a call from my mother, unusual for me during working hours. She told me that a plane had hit the trade center building and another in DC and they think it is terror. She asked if I had heard from my husband. I was confused and so I went to ask a co-worker and nobody was in the area.  Where had everyone gone?

Next thing I know I was told to go to the conference room and that’s where I saw, on the big screen, what was happening in New York City and the Pentagon. Everything stopped for a minute.  I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.  I couldn’t watch it any longer, so I returned to my desk after about 10 minutes. It was then that I noticed I had received a voice message saying my husband was fine and he would call back later.

I had been to New York on prior occasions and had actually visited the World Trade Center.  It was in 1997.  We stepped inside the towers first floor and saw all the elevator banks; we actually got our picture taken by the large globe just outside the towers.

It was my first trip to NYC so I was amazed with everything.  This small town Nebraska girl was certainly out of place in such a large city.  On that day we walked from downtown Manhattan all the way to Times Square.  That day was August 31, 1997.  Many of you may know the significance of that day as well.

When we arrived in Times Square it was a dark sky, but the square was light up of course by all the lights.  But this night we saw people visibly shaken, many with tears in their eyes. We didn’t know what was going on.  We were the only ones moving.  We stopped to look at the direction that everyone else was looking.  They were looking at the ticker, they were reading it very intently.  The ticker was announcing that Princess Diana was in a car accident and died…. We were shocked…  That very moment, we could hear some grumblings, that the ‘queen did it’.  Of course conspiracy theories abound regarding her untimely death.

Back in Indiana, 2001, it was fast and frenzied for a few hours.  The markets were officially closed indefinitely, so we were told to go home and be with family, but I was alone in Indiana. Waiting for a call from my husband and it finally came late that night. It was hard to get a call, lines were flooded and few were going through. I just sat in chair in my bedroom watching the television.  Looking at the planes, looking at the towers, just in total shock.

The next few days at work were very somber. The stock market was closed and there was no way of knowing when it would open again.  Typically I was off when the market was closed, but now there was a lot of work to do.  Sources we had before were located on Wall Street, in the towers; the big question was how were we going to get our assets priced.  Nobody knew because our sources were hit hard.  Some didn’t even know when they’d have their resources available to provide the information we needed.

They were dealing with the crisis on a corporate level, but also dealing with it on a personal level.  Key individuals were severely affected by the trauma of the day, others were regrettably lost. We were going through our contingency plans, dealing with the unknown, making sure that once the market was open, we were ready.  Although it was difficult, their loss was greatest.  It was like walking a balance beam.  Our desire for information was great yet their ability was weakened.  We pushed to get information, but they were dealing with so much. The market stayed closed for the rest of the week, if I remember correctly, so time was given to all of us; to cope.

But then the market did open, were we ready for what was surely going to be a big volume and probably an over all loss day.  There were losses, losses everywhere.  Yes, the airlines plummeted but so did a lot of things.  It was uncertain times in the United States and the market reflected that.

My husband’s trip back was a couple of days later. He was lucky to rent a car and it served many actuaries from the mid-west. There were no flights, there were few cars to rent. But he along with others made their way home in that car.

I could never imagine what the families are still going through or the people who live in Manhattan but I do know I’ll never forget where I was when it happened. Just like others know where they were when Kennedy died.  For me 9/11 and the Challenger disaster are two events I remember like yesterday.

Lately much has been said about a divided nation; people not standing for the flag or the national anthem and presidential candidates not being so presidential. When the colors are presented I rise; I stand proudly with my hand over my heart.  It’s about honoring my country, the soldiers that have fought, those who lost lives, the families that supported them and it’s about fellowship with all individuals who call themselves Americans.

My father is a veteran of the forgotten war, Vietnam and my grandfather was in Korea. For them, for all veterans and for anyone in the civilian world who lost their lives for nothing more than being an American, I honor you all when I stand proudly in front of the flag. People have the right to not agree, the right to voice their opinions and be steadfast, but being steadfast can be with a symbol other than the American flag or National Anthem.  To disrespect the flag, to alter the colors or the style of the flag to better serve ones personal opinion or agenda, in my mind, is unacceptable.  It’s our common bond; it knows no race, religion, creed, sexual orientation, it’s all inclusive not divisive.