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With Remembrance Day approaching on November
11th, it is not lost on me that the day to remember
our war heroes is also the 2-month anniversary
of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center
and the Pentagon. I watched in horror as the events
of September 11th played out on CNN. As a human
being my reaction was horror. As a Travel Agent,
my thoughts immediately went to the people on
those planes, and then I had to ask myself, "Do
I have someone on those planes?" It was a
reaction many of us in the travel industry felt.
We drove as fast as we could to work and started
pulling up bookings, desperately searching for
those flight numbers in our computer systems.
Thankfully, I did not have any passengers on any
of the 4 planes that were destroyed. However,
over the next week, we scrambled like mad, working
12 hour days trying to find over 50 passengers,
calling their families trying to track them down.
We made arrangements for others, and re-booked
clients on planes they weren't sure they wanted
to be on. Personally and professionally my world
was turned upside down. When the dust had settled
and life returned to as normal as possible, I
asked myself a burning question. If I had been
on one of those planes, would I have been satisfied
with what I've done in my life?
I was surprised when I realized that the answer
was a resounding NO! I haven't done what I've
set out to do, and that would be a disappointment.
I've been writing most of my life. I still have
my first rejection letter; I was 10 and the story
was titled My Life as a Lamppost. In my
grade twelve year book, I invited my friends to
someday pick up my book. A sassy remark then,
a hopeful one now. The events of September 11th
inspired me to do one thing. Reach for my goals.
For the first time in over a year, I'm back to
working my stories daily. I have fresh ideas,
new plots, new heroes and heroines. Stories that
some nights just don't let me sleep. They need
to get out. Surprisingly enough, that old fire
that was almost burned out is now a raging inferno
and I am thoroughly enjoying it once again.
In all that we do and all that we have, we the
writers have a unique gift. We have the gift of
the story. Be sure to share yours, as I hope to
share mine.
Katie Dalton is a member of GVC.
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