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A mere week or so after the 9/11 attacks in NYC, my wife and I found ourselves attending the first Bondcon convention in Queens, NY - just across the Hudson River from Manhatten where smoke from the World Trade Centres was still rising over the city. We'd made the long drive to NY from Niagara on the Thursday. It had originally been scheduled to take place in Connecticut - but the organizers made the quick decision to move it to New York just days after the attacks.
It was a 3-day convention at the posh Crowne Plaza Hotel across the street from LaGuardia Airport, and naturally the main topic of conversation amongst the vendors and attendees was the terrorist attacks.
On the Saturday night of that weekend the hotel hosted a somber memorial and tribute dinner for the firefighters and families directly involved in the WTC carnage - attended by many firefighters.
To say the least, it was a rather surrealistic night. On one side of the hotel we were having a large adult industry convention (models and producers)...while on the other side the memorial was going on with people in black suits and tuxedos with violin musicians playing soft music amongst the guests.
Towards the end of the evening many of the firefighters made their way across the hotel to our convention ballroom and spent time mingling with many of the exhibitors, producers and models, ourselves included. Everyone was in awe and respect for the horrendous experience they'd been through the past few days.
But the most amazing aspect of that evening (for me) was - towards the end of the night several firefighters approached the organizers of the adult convention and graciously thanked them for not canceling the event, moving it to New York and providing them with a much-need but brief distraction to the ongoing horror of the attacks.
That was my up-close and personal recollection of Sept. 11th. One that clearly illustrates that despite the evil and heinous things that people do against their fellow man - life is destined to go on.
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