I was in St. Louis on business. I got out of the shower and turned on the TV; the first tower had been hit a few minutes before. An aircraft of unknown type. What a terrible accident! Then the second tower was hit while I was watching.

It was announced that all air traffic to and in the US was being forced to land and I knew I wasn’t going to be flying home anytime soon. I packed up, got in my rental car, and started for Seattle.

Thirty of the next 48 hours were spent in the car. I sat among 50 other cars surrounding a gas station in Kansas City, and we all filled up without conflict. I couldn’t buy a flag anywhere. College students in a bar in Lawrence, Kansas cheered a Republican president. Except for a pair of F-16s over eastern Colorado, I crossed the length of the Midwest without seeing a single aircraft or contrail.

Back with my three girls – that’s when I felt safe.