The sky was all I could see. The most spectacular iconic color of a New Mexico sky. It rivaled the New England Autumn skies that I had grown up with. It’s a blue that lives vividly in my mind, filling me with awe and wonderment. Instantly, I can still see that azure blue as I recall the morning. There wasn’t a cloud to be seen.The weather was Indian Summer. I floated out into the morning . It was so perfect that years later it is still imprinted on my mind . What added to the joy and elation of this day, was my daughter had just called me, waking me up from a deep slumber. With a brief good morning, talk later, I rose up to greet the day with my morning ritual walk to The Santuario de Guadalupe. After being away for almost a year, my daughter had returned early from a fellowship in Washington, D.C. Last minute she had changed her plans from driving cross country with her belongings to shipping her things and flying home. Soon I was up for my morning walk to the Guadalupe with a heart full of joy. As I greeted the incredible clear azure blue New Mexico sky, I had no idea that by the end of the day, my heart would be heavy, filled with grief and anguish along with deep gratitude that my daughter was home safe from the East Coast. It was September 11. The memory of that day is seared in my mind.

Returning from my power walk, my house guest had the TV on. Within minutes I heard myself ask “what is this a Steven Spielberg movie?” as I watched in disbelief a plane crashing into the World Trade Center. As I heard “NO”, I crumbled onto the floor in shock and disbelief. After being admonished for not getting it together, I found myself alone in grief and utter shock at what was playing out on the TV over and over again. First it was the hijacked plane crashing into the North Tower and shortly after that the second hijacked plane striking the South Tower, causing it to collapse along with the Pentagon engulfed in flames.

Over and over the network played the image. For days later it was seen over and over again. resulting in PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) for all of us who watched in utter shock and disbelief. Finding myself alone, I spent the rest of not only that day but the days to follow reaching out to friends and loved ones who were directly impacted by this horrific tragedy.

As the days passed, my downtown working friends came. Autumn summer blessed us with enjoying sitting outside on the deep portal of 549. It was a front portal that invited one to sit and chill and that’s where we gathered to mourn and drink. Since all our businesses were heavily driven by tourism, we knew we would be essentially closed and would be deeply impacted for months to come. My little spa from September 11 to the 30th made a total of $27. That was for a manicure from an El Dorado hotel guest. She was from Ireland and was stranded in the States due to the shut down of all commercial flights. As the days unfolded, we heard more stories of the ones that lost their lives on 9/11. One of Marsha’s friends who was co-creator and executive producer of Frasier was on American Airline Flight 11 with his wife . Also on Flight 11 was the brother of one of my dear Boston friends. My California friend, Tommy, lost his best man who worked in one of the Towers. Months later we would hear the stories of those who made their somber trips to “Ground Zero” to pay respects for all those who perished. I would be among those a year later.

Following the attacks of 9/11, called to gather by our mayor, Larry Delgado, Downtown businesses came together under one roof, The Lensic Theater. The Lensic became a central hub for community healing, remembrance and solidarity in Santa Fe. One week after 9/11, a concert by Ladysmith Black Mambazo “transformed into a massive town-wide chant for peace, unity, and healing across political lines.” By Sept 13, 2001, George W. Bush proclaimed Friday, Sept. 14, 2001, “a National Day of Prayer and Remembrance for the victims of September 11 terrorists attacks.”

Over the next few weeks following the tragic events of September 11, the aviation industry ground to a halt. Our mayor, Larry Delgado,continued to called us to gather under the one roof of The Lensic The focus now was how to move on from this national tragedy that continued to impact us. With the help of destination marketing, TOURISM Santa Fe and the New Mexico Department of Tourism, a strategy was launch to promote a “drive market campaign ” to the five surrounding states. Soon Texas, Oklahoma,Colorado, Arizona, and California were responding to the “drive market campaign”. We affectionately named it “The Five Sisters”.

As Santa Fe was working on the impact of 9/11, Vanessa , my daughter’s best friend, was working at New York Sports Club at Wall Street location, just blocks away from Ground Zero. Since she lived in proximity, it was her neighborhood. NY Sports Club was quickly converted into one of the respite centers in lower Manhattan. It was a “Comfort Center’”dedicated 24/7 to providing comfort and relief for rescue workers, police. The club was outfitted with cots, hot meals, emergency medical care and thousands of donations that included socks, tee shirts and towels.It was one of the few places in the immediate Financial District to sleep, eat and shower. For the next nine months until May 30, 2002, Vanessa worked at the “Comfort Center”.

Like so many others , her story was one of “divine intervention”. For whatever reason, V , as we affectionately referred to her, had not gone to work that day. But the next day she did. Her fitness center became an important part of the local emergency response and served as one of the vital respite centers and rest spots for rescue and recovery workers during the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. The day of the “Closing Ceremony at Ground Zero”, V called me. As we talked and cried I asked “what’s next”? V said she was going to move to Balboa Island. Balboa Island is a man-made harbor-side community of Newport Beach. We both shared a hardy laugh at the chances of that happening. Well,that’s the amazing grace of divine intervention. In less than 3 months ,V scored not only a great job with a worldwide health fitness company, she landed an apartment on Balboa Island.