WHY 9/11 IS ONE OF MY GOOD DAYS

It's been 13 years since the events of 9/11. The more I think about what I've been doing over these years the more I realize how fortunate I really am ...

It was September 2001 and I was in Washington DC at an academic conference. I was scheduled to leave on September 9th. I unexpectedly ran into a friend from graduate school, Lorenzo, that I had not seen in years. Lorenzo is also the godparent of my son, Sebastian. We traveled throughout Mexico and lived together during graduate school, and had a lot of catching up to do.

During dinner Lorenzo convinced me to stay a few days more to visit with him and his cousin, who lives in the DC area and works for the Pentagon. I called and got my return flight to Los Angeles changed. I was scheduled to leave the morning of September 11.

After dinner, I thought, "I need to get back and help with the kids." They were 2  and 3 years old at the time, and a real handful. I called the airlines to ask if I could get my original return flight. They made the switch. 

If I had stayed in DC to visit the flight I would have been on was American Airlines Flight 77, the plane that slammed into the Pentagon.

I think about this every September 11th, and try to remember it whenever I think I'm having a bad day.

- Mark