There was no traffic headed north or south, except for army/national guard convoys headed south. Every 50 miles or so, more convoys and almost no other vehicles. Very, very, surreal.
I work for a software company and have lived in Middlesex, Vermont throughout my employment. In 1997 I accepted a position to travel as a consultant throughout the U.S. For four years, each week I was in and out of the Burlington airport and most connections were in Philadelphia. On Sept 10, 2001, I accepted a new position as an analyst and began working remotely from Middlesex. I was so happy not to have to fly each week and to be back in Vermont - working from home. But I did have an upcoming flight to meet my new manager on Sept 11, 2001. In my four years of travel for work, I never took the 6:30 flight out of Burlington to Philadelphia. I was just so excited about my new job, I took the 6:30 flight. And I'm so lucky I did. We landed about 8:30 and I got my rental car. I was coming out of the parking garage and the gate was lifting. I had just turned on NPR and the first plane hit. It was certainly horrific, but it was one plane and we all thought that was the end of it. By the time I got to Malvern, the second plane had hit. I headed to our offices and everyone was in a panic. There was almost no one who did not have a relative or friend in NYC and all were justifiably beyond upset. I did meet my manager, briefly, but all of the planned meetings were canceled. The scene was complete chaos. Of course, I could not fly home. No trains. But I was very, very lucky to have my rental car. There were none to be had even at this point. Once I got to I-87 it was surreal. There was no traffic headed north or south, except for army/national guard convoys headed south. Every 50 miles or so, more convoys and almost no other vehicles. It was very, very, surreal.I was grateful to get home. Coincidentally, after four years of travel through U.S. airports, on 9/11 when most interstate public transportation changed forever, I had a new job working from home. I did not have to be back in the airports with all of the security changes. Had I been on that later flight, no telling how my story would have changed.
Lisa Parrish
