Twenty-five years ago today, my life changed. I was living in a new province and a new city. I had been there just over a week, and I was less than one week into what would become my final co-op term at a little-known organization right here in Ottawa.
I had no idea that morning would change the course of my life.
I certainly had no idea that, 25 years later, I would still be working at that same organization and I could never have imagined the friendships, experiences, opportunities, and memories that would come from it but September 11, 2001, wasn't really about my life.
It was about the thousands of lives that were suddenly and violently changed forever.
I write this post not as feeling of sadness, but as a moment in time that has changed lives, good and bad. Personally, it has been good and I want that to also be remembered, for my family, my kids, my friends and co-workers who are close friends.
A day that changed everything
Most of us remember where we were, we remember the television coverage, the confusion, the disbelief, the realization that this wasn't some distant event happening somewhere else in the world.
It was happening in front of us and then something remarkable happened here in Canada.
Thousands of airline passengers were suddenly stranded after flights were diverted and the airspace over the United States was closed. Many of those passengers ended up in Newfoundland and Newfoundland opened its doors.
People in small communities welcomed complete strangers into their homes. They provided food, shelter, transportation and friendship. They didn't know these people. They didn't know how long they would be there. They didn't know what would happen next, they simply helped.
That response has always made me incredibly proud of my home province.
In the middle of an incredibly frightening and uncertain moment, ordinary people did something extraordinary, tthey were neighbours, they were Canadians, they were human beings helping other human beings, and some of those strangers became friends.
Some of those friendships lasted years and now some have lasted decades. Twenty-five years later, some of those people remain part of my life.
And somehow, it became part of my life too
When I started that co-op term in Ottawa, I was just a student starting what I thought would be another step in my career.
I didn't know that I was walking into an organization that would become such a significant part of my life and I certainly didn't know that I would still be there 25 years later.
I didn't know that I would have the privilege of working alongside some of the smartest, most dedicated people in this country and I certainly didn't know how much the world, that organization, and would change over those 25 years.
- The work has evolved.
- Technology has evolved.
- The threats have evolved.
- Canada has evolved.
- And the people working to protect Canadians have had to evolve with it.
I am incredibly proud that, after all these years, I continue to work alongside people who are committed to learning, adapting and doing everything they can to make sure events like September 11 never happen again.
There is something pretty remarkable about being able to look back at where you started 25 years ago and realize that the journey never really ended, it just kept changing.
Canada and the United States
For most of my adult life, I've believed that Canada and the United States were proof that two countries could be different while still being incredibly close.
- We share a continent.
- We share a border.
- We share families, communities, businesses, economies and friendships.
- We have disagreed plenty of times.
That's normal, friends don't have to agree on everything but for decades, there was an understanding that, fundamentally, we were neighbours and partners.
Twenty-five years ago, in the aftermath of September 11, that relationship felt particularly clear, Canada stood with the United States. Canadians helped Americans and people from around the world who suddenly found themselves stranded far from home.
There was an understanding that when something terrible happened, neighbours helped neighbours since that is what neighbours do, and that is just what Newfoundland, Canada and the world done for the United States.
Remembering the people
September 11 isn't a political anniversary, though, I've rewritten this blog a number of times and it did have a political side to it but that is not needed now, what is needed is a human connection side.
- We remember the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives, we remember the families who lost mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives and friends.
- We remember the first responders who ran toward danger while others were desperately trying to escape it.
- We remember the firefighters, police officers, paramedics and countless others who put themselves in harm's way.
- We remember the passengers and crews of the four downed aircraft.
- We remember the people who were simply going to work that morning.
- And we remember the people who, in the days that followed, found themselves far from home and uncertain about what would happen next.
- We also remember the heroes who came forward from many different corners of the world, including my home province.
People who had no idea what they were walking into nevertheless opened their doors and their hearts, they helped strangers and sometimes those strangers became friends.
That might be one of the most powerful legacies of September 11; out of something unimaginably horrible, came moments of extraordinary humanity.
25 years later
Tonight, Jodi, the kids and I will attend the play, Come From Away.
We won't be watching it simply as a musical, we'll be watching it with friends I've met through work and through the events of that day. Friends whose lives intersected with ours because of a major world changing event that happened hundreds of kilometres away.
It is a strange thing to think about, a terrible event created circumstances that ultimately created friendships. Twenty-five years later, those friendships continue and tonight, sitting in a theatre, I know I'll be thinking about how much has changed since that morning.
- I'll think about the people who never made it home.
- I'll think about the families who were forever changed.
- I'll think about the people who stepped forward to help.
- I'll think about Newfoundland.
- I'll think about Canada.
- I'll think about the United States.
- I'll think about the organization where I started a co-op term 25 years ago and somehow never really left.
And I'll think about how two countries that have been neighbours for generations can find their way through difficult times, I still believe we can because the alternative isn't something I want to accept.
Canada and the United States are better as friends than enemies, we are better when we help each other, we are better when we cooperate, we are better when we disagree respectfully, and we are better when we remember that the people on the other side of a border are still people.
Twenty-five years ago, our two nations seemed closer than ever and I hope we can find our way back there, not because we have to agree but because we have so much more to gain from being neighbours and friends than we ever will from being enemies.
Never forget the lives lost on September 11, 2001.
Never forget the heroes.
Never forget the strangers who became friends.
Never forget Newfoundland's and Canada's welcome.
And perhaps most importantly:
Never forget the power of people choosing kindness when the world gives them every reason to choose fear.