It was a beautiful Tuesday morning as I drove up the Parkway to my job as a vice principal at Livingston High School. As I got up around exit 135 I could look to the east, and I saw them so clearly against the blue sky.
That day, we were conducting class meetings, some in the auditorium, some in the gym. But earlier, as I sat in my office with WCBS on the radio, a report came across the air saying a plane had struck one of the towers. Early reports were slim, and in my mind, I saw a small private
plane being the object of the report.
But reports became more detailed, and it became clear that it was anything but a small plane….or a small incident.
We had decided to move ahead with the class meetings and I was in the hallway outside the gym. I saw my secretary coming towards me with a horrified look on her face. She came up to me and said, ” They’re gone.” What? What was gone? “The towers, they’re just gone.”
Within a minute or so, we heard this rumbling noise, and we all looked up at the hall ceiling. Our security officer was outside, and he later explained what we heard: there were fighter jets, “looked like at tree top level, and they were booking”. Were we at war?
Four days later, a 1-1 Rutgers, under first year head coach Greg Schiano, was scheduled to play Cal at Rutgers Stadium. That game wouldn’t happen until November.
When Rutgers and BC take the field tonight, there’s a lot on the line for both teams. But, there’s a lot more to think about than just football. BC has an alum who perished on 9/11 saving others, and its Red Bandana game commemorates his sacrifice, along with that of others. Rutgers’ game uniforms commemorate the 37 RU alums who got up to go to work that Tuesday and never came home.
We’ll watch the game tonight and we’ll hope for a Scarlet victory. And, tomorrow we’ll either celebrate or commiserate. But, we can do that; so many souls who never made it home that day in 2001 cannot.
They say we all die twice; once when the life leaves our body and again when they stop telling our stories. There’s a game tonight. But there’s a lot more to think about. Keep that close to your heart, and keep telling the story.
