A Memphis guitar and a rainbow
By: Terry Donnelly
Sept. 9, 2011
Our family’s 9/11 story melds tragic moments with family treasures.
My list of to-do’s after teaching on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 included picking up my suit and making a list of alcohol needed for our daughter and oldest child, Sara’s wedding to Frank three days away. Those after school chores had to wait.
What followed the day’s acts of terror is a cache of stories created by our family and friends that amount to sheer determination. The 125 invited guests were to start arriving that day–many were to be transported by airlines. An elderly aunt and uncle were in the air flying from Detroit, Michigan to Denver, Colorado during the hours of the four attacks. As all planes were ordered out of the sky, theirs was forced to land in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Being understandably frightened by the event, they rented a car and drove the 200 miles back to the safety of their mid-Michigan farm.
Also leaving from Michigan were our son and daughter-in-law-to-be. Sean and Annette were scheduled to fly after work that day. Bright boy that he is, Sean soon realized that the odds of getting on a commercial airplane in the near future were astronomical. He phoned Annette and they made arrangements to leave work immediately, meet at home by noon, and get on the road to Denver. A non-stop trip would be about 24 hours. They made it in fewer than 30 by only stopping at an Iowa rest area for a few hours of sleep along the way. They were the first out of town guests to arrive and were in time for dinner on Wednesday. Two guests accounted for and only 123 to go.
The two groomsmen had never met, but destiny created a time for them to become pals. Mark was a college friend of Frank’s living in Atlanta, Georgia. He, like Sean, realized he was not going to fly to Denver. Determined to fulfill his promise to stand at the wedding, he quickly located a rental minivan that needed to be returned to Denver. He jumped at the opportunity, snatched up the vehicle, and headed out.
Ken was Frank’s childhood chum living in Louisville, Kentucky. Mark contacted Ken, a complete stranger, and made arrangements to meet in Memphis, Tennessee. Without ever having laid eyes on each other, Ken drove to Memphis from Louisville and Mark with his fiancé, Paige, coming from Atlanta, met in the dead of night. They immediately continued their near non-stop journey.
Along the way the two decided to add a unique twist to the groomsmen’s toast. This was, after all, going to be a memorable wedding. The minivan arrived in Denver about two hours before the wedding on Friday evening–like the cavelry, just in the nick of time. When the toast was delivered, they brought forth a series of representative goods from stops across the country. There was a Georgia peach, Kentucky Bourbon, a guitar shaped fly swatter from Memphis, and spicy Kansas City barbecue sauce. The boys delivered a remarkable toast that included visual aids.
Maybe the oddest story of all is the one provided by Frank’s Uncle Tim. He had a flight booked out of O’Hare airport in Chicago for Friday morning. By then the airlines were beginning to inch back into the air as millions of people across the country were scurrying to get any kind of flight. Uncle Tim went to the airport– ticket in hand, boarded his on-time original flight, and landed in Denver as scheduled. Imagine that.
Those are the success stories, but as expected there were others that didn’t end as well. Sara’s college roommate, Rhonda, was to be her matron of honor. Rhonda was coming from Michigan and, try as she might, found no way to get to Denver. She would not be in the wedding party. Her husband, Adam, was visiting friends in Steamboat Springs, Colorado the days before, so he merely drove down the mountain, but alas, no Rhonda to stand beside her friend.
Who do you get in a pinch as a maid of honor? Your brother of course. Sara nominated Sean to fill the empty slot. He took a lot of ribbing about the dress he’d be expected to wear, but in earnest, we jumped into action getting Sean a usable proximity to the tuxes the other wedding party men would be wearing. He was good to go by rehearsal time on Thursday.
By Sara’s count, there were 78 attendees of the 125 who were invited. The events of Tuesday added an unwanted somberness to the Friday evening vows. But, aided by a glorious rainbow the two were married and feted in a true gala.
The now ten year old wedding photos remain a dual reminder of the best of times and worst of times offered by the week of September 11, 2001.
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