Every time we go through security at the airport I make it a point to always be friendly and respectful to the TSA agents. Before we travel abroad, I read up on the airport security requirements for the region. I try to prepare everything to make the process as quick and painless as possible. I leave extra time for the security line, and I honestly don't mind the inconvenience. I encourage my boys to do what the agents ask and to always be polite and say "thank you."
On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, my husband and I were ending our two-week vacation in Europe. We woke up in Venice, and caught an early a.m. flight to Frankfurt. That afternoon we boarded our Lufthansa flight to San Francisco.
Three hours before we were supposed to land in SFO we noticed that the plane on the map was going the wrong way, and the destination had changed. We asked the flight attendants but they wouldn't give us an answer other than that we were being rerouted to Iceland and were heading back to Germany. Some of the attendants were noticeably upset.
When we landed in Iceland, we weren't allowed to depart the plane. While the plane was being refueled some of the passengers were able to successfully sneak a call home on their cell phones.
A Danish family was able to get through. They got this information: four airplanes crashed, and the World Trade Center is gone. It was unbelievable and we couldn't fathom how these stories were connected, or why US airspace was closed for the first time ever.
After about 20 hours on the airplane, and the longest domestic flight in German history we landed in Leipzig, Germany. As we got off the airplane we got a packet of information, and the whole story unfolded.
We stayed up all night and made calls and emails home to make sure our friends, family and coworkers knew we were okay. Many knew we were traveling that day, but until they heard from us couldn't be certain if we were on one of the planes.
We were told to stay in Leipzig, and that there were no hotels in Frankfurt. If we insisted we could fly to Frankfurt, but we would be on our own. We opted to fly to Frankfurt -- we just wanted to get home.
In Frankfurt we were directed to Church Services for housing. The airport minister had called into a radio show, and asked locals to open their homes for the stranded American passengers. The Frankfurt community complied, and no one slept in the airport. The minister quickly placed us. It was amazing how gracious everyone was.
We stayed in Frankfurt until Saturday when we heard that US air space was open again, and went to the airport to see if we could get on the first flight to San Francisco. We were successful. Although other passengers had been placed in front of us, Lufthansa had trouble contacting everyone, and if you showed up you got a seat. The security line took about five hours. It was the most reassuring five hours I have ever spent.
Our flight was the second International flight to land in San Francisco. The airport was empty, no one was out on the streets.
I think back to September 11 every time I go through a security line. When my bag gets searched, or play dough or stain stick gets confiscated I take it in stride. I don't argue, and I don't give the security people a hard time. Tomorrow is the eighth anniversary, the day it seemed the world had changed forever.
Each year I think about the heroes, the victims, and the families, and say a special prayer for them ... and I thank the security agents who have such and important and difficult job.
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