911 will never be forgotten. We hope. The lessons it should have taught us are being lost thanks in no small part to an elite bent on civilizational murder, ours not theirs. The MSM and our political class sings their song at every opportunity – Islam is the religion of peace. The smart money knows it’s not no matter how many Magic Totem Malala’s they trot out.
I remember where I was. The first reports I heard spoke of a “small plane” crashing into the World Trade Center. I made my way to a nearby hotel and picked up a corporate rep for the software I sold and we headed to Vancouver’s airport for a meeting with a client.
That meeting never happened. On our way into the airport traffic had already backed up. The only things moving were the Black SUV’s, all unmarked that roared past us.
Soon we learned the airport had been closed down and on our way out, still lacking details, we marveled at the number of passenger jets being “parked” side by side.
At a nearby hotel we stopped for coffee and watched CNN as events unfolded. I still remember the stricken faces of the American’s I spoke with. Bewildered shock and anxiety overwhelming us all.
Fast forward a decade and Kathy and I were off to attend the 10 anniversary of 911 in New York. The pic above is one I took from West Broadway.
911 was for me a painfully significant eye-opener to the wickedness of this world if not a watershed moment in my life. For Kathy it marked the dividing line that spawned the woman so many of us came to admire, an event that blessed us all.
Kathy and I made the pilgrimage to Manhattan for the 10th. We attended the SIOA rally featuring Robert Spencer, Pamela Geller, Ezra Levant and many others as featured speakers. It was a passionate event well attended and well worth the trip to NYC alone.
Kathy and I stayed at the Wall Street Inn, a boutique hotel near to the anniversary memorial grounds. Kath was great at picking hotels, we enjoyed our stay and Kathy loved nearby Stone Street, essentially an open air restaurant featuring multiple establishments and good eats.
It was a whirlwind of activity and I remember how tired we both were but we never stopped. We didn’t have clout to enter the official seating area so we gathered as so many others to pay our respects in the surrounding streets. And this gave rise to Kathy’s encounter with the execrable “Westboro Baptist Church” protesters and the memorable photo below of Kath flipping them the bird as they walked past. Moments afterward she attempted to trip one of the Westboro loons who made a snide comment. He was a pretty big guy too. That’s my gal.
It may seem a bit off to speak of good memories from attendance at such a sad memorial but they are my history with Kathy and sacred for that. Here’s Kathy and Terry Jones, I recall how pleasant he was to chat with and how charmed he was by Kathy.
I still chuckle at Kathy naming this “Doggie Of The Cross”. He was the companion of the street person who carted the cross around, guess his owner was getting a coffee.
A few have remarked that Kathy’s service was scheduled for September 9th at 11 am – 911. The choice of that time and date was entirely accidental on my part and frankly I did not note its significance as I busied myself with arrangements.
On reflection I suspect this was Kathy’s hand at work. Perhaps reminding us to pick up the torch.
She was always one step ahead me. Good on ya Shortcake.
