We'll Never Forget

We were in Glacier Park.
Lou was on a hike with his son, Terry, and Lou's youngest brother, Carl. An 8 day, 52 mile hike. They left 9/7 hiking toward Canada from Many Glacier to Waterton.

I needed to pick them up in Waterton on 9/13. They had just enough Canadian money to pay for a one way ticket on the boat and no identification along except for their back country permit (you don't need money or driver's licenses on a hike).The borders were open/closed open/closed open/closed depending on what was going on. There was a long backup on the highway and they were searching every vehicle. It all worked out. I was at the dock when he stepped off the tour boat that runs between Goat Haunt and Waterton. They had been told by the captain of the boat why the flags were flying at half staff at Goat Haunt (Canadian AND USA Flags). They had about an hour to absorb the information before I saw them. I had brought newspapers with me to show them while I explained.

But back up to 9/11... as I rolled over to turn on the radio to get the morning weather/fire report...and heard a familiar voice (Peter Jennings?) describing how planes had hit the towers and the pentagon. I thought, Orsen Wells...War of the World... a prank... but I trusted the familiar voice...so this was real. I got dressed as quickly as I could. Hurried to the resort office. This was a private lodge near Babb, Montana, that served international guests. Inside everything was calm. Tourists were eating their breakfasts. No tv or radio was on. It was unusual for anyone to bother with tv or radio this early in the morning. It was also unusual for me to be at the lodge. I never went up there. I stayed down by my RV. They did know that my husband was away on a long hike and the look on my face must have been a strange one.

The owner asked me a question like, "Why are you here?" and I responded, "I thought you'd be watching tv." The look on his face was a silent "why would we have a tv on?" look. His phone rang. He put it to his ear and I watched the look on his face begin to resemble what I thought mine looked like. He reached for the tv remote. They had a large screen tv and as the picture came into focus... a plane hit the 2nd tower with a large explosion. I sank into a chair and I didn't move or speak for several hours. There wasn't much conversation. We were all in disbelief.

I wouldn't see my husband for two more days but at least I knew I'd see him again. The numbers of those killed changed but at that time, I thought at least 50,000 people were dead. It just seemed like I was overwhelmed thinking about them and their families. I still do. I still think about them and our prayers go out to them today.