It has been a unique experience to live through these moments from outside the country. I was travelling when the attacks occurred. I heard of the events from a fellow at passport control in Dublin. He told the older couple in front of me that the World Trade Center and the Pentagon had been attacked. He said it with such a straight face that I thought he was just jerking our chain: a joke on the stupid Americans.

When I called the manager of our facility in Ireland, he immediately said "have you heard the news?" I told my travelling companion what had happened. When we finally found a TV in a bar, we watched, dumbstruck, as the footage of the planes and the collapse of the buildings was replayed. I was sobbing.

RTE, essentially the Irish BBC, played CNN and hours of their own coverage. I stayed up most of the night Tuesday watching in my hotel room. Seeing the events through the eyes of the Irish has been eye-opening. They are very concerned about the Irish Americans in New York, and there have been many stories about individual folks who are missing.

There were queues of people at the US Embassy to sign books of condolence. The entire country was closed down Friday as part of the National Day of Mourning. Today on the train to Dublin, we stopped for 3 minutes of silence. The most touching moment for me was seeing the video of a brigade of Irish firefighters, presenting a wreath to the American ambassador. Incredible.

So, I'm in London this weekend for a brief holiday and some quality time with dear friend Brian. I'm scheduled to come back on Tuesday.... hopefully the flights are back to a semblance of normal by then. Getting from Tipperary to London today was a mess. Phoenix, of all the places, has had its share of bomb threats, bombs, loonies. Ugh.

I sincerely hope that all is well with you and your family.