Remember

Three years ago today I was taking care of a lesser Saudi Princess in the ICU of the King Faisal Specialist Hospital when "it" happened. My friend and co-worker Helen walked in and said (in her Kiwi accent) "Paul, you're not going to believe this, but an aeroplane just crashed into the World Trade Center Building." Knowing Helen to be a practical joker, particularly regarding stories of American icons (she once started a rumor that someone had stolen the Lincoln Memorial in honor of John Wilkes Booth's birthday), I said something like silly like "you're right, I don't believe it, though it is time that the South rose again". Then my friend Richard walked in and confirmed her story. He's a big, burly Texan from what I tend to think of as "one of my hometowns", Midland, Texas, and while he'd tell a tall tale (like me, I suppose) I knew he'd rather pull out one of his eyes than make light of anything American. I believed, immediately thinking of the incident in the 1940's when a military aircraft crashed into the Empire State Building.

After I made certain that the patient was stable, I left an Indian nurse that I was training to watch the patient while I went to the next room to watch the story unfold on CNN. We all know what happened that day, so I'll cut the narrative short. My wife and I were well treated by the Saudi folks that we knew, the ones with whom we worked, and even complete strangers on the street. We were given free plane tickets home the day we requested them.

Three years ago today, an act of great evil was perpetrated against our people. I hope that everyone remembers that, and that our government does what can be done to prevent a similar event in our future.