Countdown to Triathlon - 248 Days, 35.4 weeks to Race Day (See Installment 25 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -

He who has not Christmas in his heart will
never find it under a tree.  ~Roy L. Smith











Bob and I just got back from Mendocino with our good friends Lynn and Shirley, their son and his friends, Cindy, Dale and Kathy.  We had a wonderful relaxing time in our other "Feel Good Place".  Lake Tahoe and Mendocino can't be beat! 

The above four photos were taken from our deck outside our room at the Albion River Inn, Albion, CA.  When I say we were in Mendocino, this is close by and we did actually go into town to grab a couple of meals.

The Journey - Installment Twenty-Five -
September 11, 2001

 (As told by Lynda)

          My Mom was in town visiting me when you and your sister (meaning Barb and Patti) came to town for the marathon.  I remember we met you both at the bagel place on 57th & 7th in Midtown Manhattan and retelling my September 11th story.  Everything was still pretty fresh for me and I hadn't really told my story to many people, so you two were some of the first to hear my recount.  It seems so long ago now, but back then, time really stood still for a few months while I tried to sort everything out.  

            I got to work at about 8:30AM on September 11th.  I worked at Citigroup in 7 World Trade Center, across the plaza from and just north of the North and South Towers (aka buildings 1 and 2--there were 7 buildings in the World Trade Center complex).  At about 8:45AM, I felt the building shake and the lights flickered on and off.  At first, I thought a truck had hit the building, but after logically thinking that we were on the 37th floor, I thought maybe it was an earthquake. Someone yelled "Stairs!" from the other end of my floor, so I headed straight to the stairs without bothering to get my purse or any other personal effects.  I, of course, thought I'd be back later to get everything.  What I didn't know at that time, but found out later, the person who yelled "Stairs!" had seen either the impact of the first plane or some of the fiery debris falling.  Thank goodness for the person!  Most people went to the stairs, but some of my colleagues took the elevator down to the lobby.  Those who took the elevators were "stuck" in the lobby because security was holding people inside the building.  Those of us who took the stairs were able to exit on to the street.  On my climb down the stairs, I met a woman who was in great distress and I held her hand all the way down to the bottom and made sure she was okay when we got to the ground floor.  Someone mentioned that a plane had hit one of the towers, but I thought it was a small plane and it never entered my mind that a passenger jet would hit one of the buildings. It was unthinkable to me at that time.

Friday will be the second part of Lynda's story.