Tyler
10-12-2001, 08:17 AM
A friend forwarded this to me. Read it. It's a heartfelt real life story that will warm your heart.
(I have removed the email addresses.)
----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Saturday, October 06, 2001 3:54 PM
Subject: Love Letter
Hello all,
Thought that this would be interesting to read..
In the midst of the shock, the despair, the questions, a ray of sunshine.. In times of crisis, it is interesting how people are able to stand together and touch each other's humanity... Made me glad to be Canadian -- but it also touched my human spirit.. Hope that it does the same for you...
A love letter to the people of Halifax, Nova Scotia
On September 11th my husband and I were among the 9,000 transatlantic airline passengers whose flights, following the terrorist attacks in the United States, were diverted to Halifax Airport. Our Scandinavian Airways plane was the 18th of 44 wide body planes to land and, knowing only bits of information of what had happened in the US, we watched as airliners from dozens of countries joined us.
We sat in our plane for 7 hours little knowing the extraordinary efforts your community was putting into place. When we were finally allowed to deplane, volunteers were waiting at the foot of the stairs to give us a blanket and bottled water, while waiting busses quickly took us to the terminal. At every turn in the orridors of the terminal, volunteers were in place to greet us with a much welcomed smile of encouragement. Our SAS flight, plus the passengers from two British Airlines flights and one Alitalia [a total of about 1200 people] were quickly processed through customs and led to waiting busses to take us to our shelter- the Akerley Campus of Nova Scotia Community College in Dartmouth. Many volunteers were waiting at the shelter to help us navigate through the confusion. Hot food was already prepared- burgers donated by McDonalds, pizza from Pizza Hut, beef stew, salads, fresh fruit, sandwiches, cookies, sodas, juices, coffee, tea, milk. In the following 3 days, we were offered hot tasty meals for any appetite at no additional cost.
We received a tumbling mat for a mattress and joined people from all nationalities to sleep together on the gym floor. On one side of us as a large family from India. On another side were people from Italy who spoke no English. We were astonished to hear that all the telephones in the building were available 24 hours a day to place unlimited free calls to anywhere in the world. We were also given unlimited free access on the college computers to the Internet so that we could connect with our families via email.
Volunteer nurses wearing special bright yellow T-shirts wandered the building checking blood pressures and taking the fragile and elderly to an infirmary. When we mentioned to a nurse that we were without some of our daily medications, within 24 hours she found us with a 4 day supply, donated by a local pharmacy. All night long as people wandered the halls in bewilderment or boredom, volunteers from the Red Cross, police and fire departments were there to comfort, console, answer questions, or just make a new friend.
Young people from the college and local high schools appeared the next morning to set up a day care and play area with a rented bounce house to entertain the children. They took children to classrooms for reading time and impromptu art classes. Little children would return to their parents with glittered and glued art paper saying Welcome to Nova Scotia.
Workers came to set up 5 wide screen TV's in the cafeteria so everyone could see the continuing news coverage. A rolling cart appeared with free paperback books.
During the day announcements would be made that a delivery had arrived with free soap or shampoo or shaving supplies or warm socks or diapers. One of your police officers personally drove my husband and me to a mall in his cruiser and waited while we bought a change of clothes. When we returned to the shelter, we discovered that a Halifax florist had donated floral arrangements for each of the tables in the cafeteria just to brighten our day. All day long people from your community walked through the building offering to open their homes to us for a few hours of privacy, a meal, a private bedroom. A fellow SAS passenger, wearing a NSCC T-shirt, told us to be careful of admiring the college logo T-shirts of the volunteers because they would literally give you the shirt off their back. On discovering the number of Indian passengers among us, one lady with Indian heritage went home to cook 'comfort food' for her countrymen and returned to the cafeteria with curried rice dishes.
Pastors from all faiths walked from group to group offering help and prayers. Church services for a number of denominations, along with free transportation to them, were arranged An Alitalia passenger, who spoke no English, had his violin with him and gave violin concerts for those who wanted to forget the situation for a short while. Every hour we hoped for the announcement that our flights could resume. After day 2 we learned that each flight must return to its point of origin. Not once did we hear a voice raised in anger or frustration. For those few days we were a tiny United Nations in harmony.
Other than the discomfort of displacement, your citizens addressed our every need with warmth and compassion. In every way your community treated us as if we were expected invited guests. How can we possibly convey our gratitude? If the Gracious hospitality we received during this incredible situation is an example of the treatment we would receive as tourists to Halifax, then we encourage everyone who reads this letter to consider a vacation in Nova Scotia, Canada.
(I have removed the email addresses.)
----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Saturday, October 06, 2001 3:54 PM
Subject: Love Letter
Hello all,
Thought that this would be interesting to read..
In the midst of the shock, the despair, the questions, a ray of sunshine.. In times of crisis, it is interesting how people are able to stand together and touch each other's humanity... Made me glad to be Canadian -- but it also touched my human spirit.. Hope that it does the same for you...
A love letter to the people of Halifax, Nova Scotia
On September 11th my husband and I were among the 9,000 transatlantic airline passengers whose flights, following the terrorist attacks in the United States, were diverted to Halifax Airport. Our Scandinavian Airways plane was the 18th of 44 wide body planes to land and, knowing only bits of information of what had happened in the US, we watched as airliners from dozens of countries joined us.
We sat in our plane for 7 hours little knowing the extraordinary efforts your community was putting into place. When we were finally allowed to deplane, volunteers were waiting at the foot of the stairs to give us a blanket and bottled water, while waiting busses quickly took us to the terminal. At every turn in the orridors of the terminal, volunteers were in place to greet us with a much welcomed smile of encouragement. Our SAS flight, plus the passengers from two British Airlines flights and one Alitalia [a total of about 1200 people] were quickly processed through customs and led to waiting busses to take us to our shelter- the Akerley Campus of Nova Scotia Community College in Dartmouth. Many volunteers were waiting at the shelter to help us navigate through the confusion. Hot food was already prepared- burgers donated by McDonalds, pizza from Pizza Hut, beef stew, salads, fresh fruit, sandwiches, cookies, sodas, juices, coffee, tea, milk. In the following 3 days, we were offered hot tasty meals for any appetite at no additional cost.
We received a tumbling mat for a mattress and joined people from all nationalities to sleep together on the gym floor. On one side of us as a large family from India. On another side were people from Italy who spoke no English. We were astonished to hear that all the telephones in the building were available 24 hours a day to place unlimited free calls to anywhere in the world. We were also given unlimited free access on the college computers to the Internet so that we could connect with our families via email.
Volunteer nurses wearing special bright yellow T-shirts wandered the building checking blood pressures and taking the fragile and elderly to an infirmary. When we mentioned to a nurse that we were without some of our daily medications, within 24 hours she found us with a 4 day supply, donated by a local pharmacy. All night long as people wandered the halls in bewilderment or boredom, volunteers from the Red Cross, police and fire departments were there to comfort, console, answer questions, or just make a new friend.
Young people from the college and local high schools appeared the next morning to set up a day care and play area with a rented bounce house to entertain the children. They took children to classrooms for reading time and impromptu art classes. Little children would return to their parents with glittered and glued art paper saying Welcome to Nova Scotia.
Workers came to set up 5 wide screen TV's in the cafeteria so everyone could see the continuing news coverage. A rolling cart appeared with free paperback books.
During the day announcements would be made that a delivery had arrived with free soap or shampoo or shaving supplies or warm socks or diapers. One of your police officers personally drove my husband and me to a mall in his cruiser and waited while we bought a change of clothes. When we returned to the shelter, we discovered that a Halifax florist had donated floral arrangements for each of the tables in the cafeteria just to brighten our day. All day long people from your community walked through the building offering to open their homes to us for a few hours of privacy, a meal, a private bedroom. A fellow SAS passenger, wearing a NSCC T-shirt, told us to be careful of admiring the college logo T-shirts of the volunteers because they would literally give you the shirt off their back. On discovering the number of Indian passengers among us, one lady with Indian heritage went home to cook 'comfort food' for her countrymen and returned to the cafeteria with curried rice dishes.
Pastors from all faiths walked from group to group offering help and prayers. Church services for a number of denominations, along with free transportation to them, were arranged An Alitalia passenger, who spoke no English, had his violin with him and gave violin concerts for those who wanted to forget the situation for a short while. Every hour we hoped for the announcement that our flights could resume. After day 2 we learned that each flight must return to its point of origin. Not once did we hear a voice raised in anger or frustration. For those few days we were a tiny United Nations in harmony.
Other than the discomfort of displacement, your citizens addressed our every need with warmth and compassion. In every way your community treated us as if we were expected invited guests. How can we possibly convey our gratitude? If the Gracious hospitality we received during this incredible situation is an example of the treatment we would receive as tourists to Halifax, then we encourage everyone who reads this letter to consider a vacation in Nova Scotia, Canada.