Each year on the 11th of September, we all pause to remember the tragedy that unfolded at the hands of a few crazy people. Yet, in the midst of those remembrances, I stop to say a prayer of thanks for hospitality.
See, on the first anniversary of 9/11, I was in Kingston, Ontario on business. I will never forget that day. Looking out of the hotel window at the Canadian Customs House across the street and watching as they lowered the Canadian flag to half-mast.
As we went into the office that morning, I remember many words of condolence and grief. Many of our Canadian coworkers were genuinely grieved by those events.
Later that night, I watched special new coverage on the CBC. They talked about the hospitality of cities like Gander who housed thousands of displaced travelers as jet after jet was grounded outside of the US.
As I sit here on the tenth anniversary of that horrific day, I do as I have done every year since, I say to my friends north of the border…
THANK YOU!
You taught the world what it means to be a neighbor.