Memories...............

Ten years doesn't seem that long, does it? Yet, for me it's somewhat like a dream because my life was so different then. Today I've taken a short trip down memory lane by looking at a scrapbook of one of the most enjoyable cruises that Gary and I enjoyed - with the most dramatic ending...............

Ed and Liz joined us in Barcelona on September 1st, 2001 where we boarded the Golden Princess for a 14 day cruise. We toured ports through Spain, France, Italy, Greece and Turkey.

The cruise was ending on Thursday, September 13th in Istanbul where we were scheduled to return to San Francisco.

On September 11th, the unthinkable occurred. We had returned to our stateroom after touring Ephesus and we were talking on the balcony when our neighbors shouted out that we should turn on CNN. It was close to 5 p.m. in Turkey so the first plane had already hit one tower, but to our shock, we saw the second plane hit. When I try to recall my feelings all I remember is not being able to think.............. it just didn't seem real. We soon learned just how "real" it was because the ship immediately lost all communications and the Captain began making emergency announcements. Since we were scheduled to continue to Istanbul, the Captain assured us that protection had already been provided and the ship left the Port.

When we arrived in Istanbul, the first thing we saw was guards standing every 100 feet or so on the dock with machine guns. We were told that scuba divers would be under and around the ship full-time so, even though we were in a foreign country, we felt reassured.

We were allowed to remain on the ship for two extra days because airplanes couldn't fly or land in the U.S. On the 15th, we were put on a chartered flight to Shannon, Ireland where we landed for fuel. At that time the pilot still wasn't sure that we could land in the U.S. but while on the ground, he made an announcement that the U.S. agreed to accept our flight. We were the first International airline to land at JFK after the tragedy. While landing, we looked out the window of the plane and saw only one runway lit. Everything else was dark. There were about 500 people on the plane but the Customs people hurried us through and then drove us to a hotel for the night. We got to bed about 2 p.m. and were up at 8 a.m. when they transported us back to JFK.

It took the full day for us to get our tickets, go through security, (they checked every single little thing in all of our luggage) and get on a plane. As we left early that evening, all we could see was the smoke that still came from the ruins. Even then, it just didn't seem to be real.........................