We all have our memories of 9/11. I’m told it’s like the day FDR died and JFK was assignated in that everyone remembers where they were when it happened. As luck would have it, Betty and I were in Portugal for a business outing. I guess it was a reward for a job well done for Janney. They flew us over for a conference at a resort outside of Lisbon right off the ocean. It was a beautiful resort with golf courses and beaches in every direction.

On 9/11, in the morning, there was an excursion bus scheduled with a half-day tour of Lisbon. Betty and I were treated to the historic sights of Lisbon, a seat of colonial power back in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. We drank in the sights and the stories and revelled in them.

When noon came, we broke for lunch and were told, “You man return to the hotel on the bus or you may take your liberty from here and go where you wish.” We chose the latter and bought two all-day metro passes and headed off, chosing stops that looked interesting to investigate by visiting. It was a great choice! We found a zoo at one stop, a butterfly exhibit at another, a ferris wheel next and finally a building full of humming birds.

It was a great afternoon but it was time to go back to the hotel. We subwayed to the train station and then to a stop down the beach from our hotel.

It was a pretty walk along the sea with shops and cafes looking into the Atlantic.

“I’m hungry, Betty.” Betty agreed so we sauntered into the seaside cafe to see what there was there. When we walked in the door, someone said in English, “You Americans?” And when I said yes, he said “Someone flew planes into the World Trade Center and knocked the buildings down.” “That’s not funny,” I replied looking up to the televisions around the room’s ceiling where, to my horror, CNN showed the topling of the twin towers — again, and again, and again. CNN’s motto has always been, “When it bleeds, it leads.” They lived up to it on 9/11.

So, we were an ocean away from reaching out to friends with whom I worked in the financial services industry since Merrill Lynch’s nickname for One Liberty Plaza was “Puzzle Palace.” Fortunately, none of my compatriots, from my early days in the industry and the times I’d make regulary trips to the World Trade Center, were among the victims.

Before we had the honor to be among the first International Flights to land in Philadelphia, I had the honor of receiving the support, sympathy and love from the people of Portugal. Everyone was so cordial and empathetic that I felt at home. It is a small world and we have friends everywhere. Let’s hope we deserve their friendship.