Connect with us

Headlines

Heaton: Routine Day Forever Changed

Published

on

Sept11
Sunday evening, May 26, 1982
At Ole Miss, classes were out and the campus deserted. I don’t recall why my friend, Claudette, and I were still on campus. Ole Miss is a magical place, but we knew the spell could not sustain us after graduation. I suppose we just were not quite ready to say goodbye. As we walked underneath the giant magnolias by the tennis courts, Claudette began to sing:
“Pack up all my care and woe Here I go, singing low Bye-bye, blackbird.”
This memory is as vivid to me as the final scene for movie fans in Casablanca or Gone With the Wind. Claudette was singing, but there was a voice whispering to me, “it is time for you to leave.”
Tuesday morning, Sept. 11, 2001
For my entire working career I had risen before 5 a.m. and been at my desk by 7. In January of 2001, I joined Cantor Fitzgerald in the North Tower, 105th floor. The week prior to Sept. 11, the chairman of Cantor Fitzgerald informed me that he wanted me to work his hours. This would mean starting at roughly 9AM and staying into the evening. Sept. 11 will be the first day for this new, and completely unfamiliar, working schedule.
Old habits die hard, so that on Sept. 11, I’m wide awake at 5 a.m. I toss and turn, and try to force myself to stay in bed until I hear my sons, (2 and 5 years old at the time), stomping around upstairs at their usual wake-up time of 6. Finally, I give up wanting for them begin getting ready for work.
601437_4663412908521_372495765_nAt 7 a.m., I’m dressed and ready to go. However, the boys were still sleeping, the house is quiet, and the bottom floor deserted as my wife is still asleep as well. Every day for the last 25 years, I would have already been at my desk by this time. My commuting plan was to leave home at 8 a.m. so that I could maximize my time with the boys and still get to my desk by 9. Today and from here on, I would not be home from work before the boys were in bed, so mornings would be the only time I would see them. But I’m fidgety. I’m ready to leave, and there is no sign that the boys are stirring.
I look at my watch. Then time seems to stands still as I ponder my course: leave now or wait for the boys to wake. I wanted to go, but there was a voice whispering to me, “Don’t leave yet, you won’t see them tonight.”
A couple of minutes later, I hear the noises of which all parents are familiar: pitter-pattering, flushing toilets, bickering, thundering footfalls down stairs.
By 8 a.m. when the boys left for school, I had been through a three-hour long battle between the forces of “leaving for work,” and those of “waiting for the boys.” Then more delays: I had to stop for gas. Then I got stuck behind a school bus. Traffic was usually heavy because many people were just back from vacation. I made a poor choice in picking a toll booth lane. A minor accident snarled traffic on the Newark Bay Bridge.
By the time I reached my parking garage on the Hudson River, I was highly agitated. As I pulled in, I glanced up at the Twin Towers, and they loomed back. It was about 8:45, and it seemed that I would be in the office by 9 after all.
As I walked outside and away from the garage, I noticed clusters of people pointing skyward. I overheard speculation that a small plane hit the North Tower. From my office on the 105th floor, thick smoke billowed from windows and flames licked at the sky. The impact zone was below my floor, but it was a direct hit on the company cafeteria. People getting their morning coffee saw the plane coming directly at them. It was clear that anyone on the higher floors was in trouble. I tried to call my wife to let her know that I was not in the building, but the cell lines were already jammed. At 9:03, I heard the wine of a jet engine, and then saw the second plane hit the South Tower.
At the time, I did not appreciate the voice or the consequences of taking the path I chose. Today, I recall looking at my watch and Claudette’s song so vividly that it sweeps me back to those moments. No one knows about Claudette’s song, but I’m often asked about the other path on Sept. 11. My answer is that I do not fear what could have been, the voice gives me courage for the path I am on.


 

timheatonTim Heaton, BBA ’82, is from Southaven, Miss. Over a thirty year Wall Street career he has traded proprietary arbitrage for several major banks and hedge funds in New York, Chicago and London. Joining Cantor Fitzgerald in the World Trade Center in 2001, he luckily was late for work on the morning of 9/11. In the aftermath, Tim would design the automated market-making systems that enabled the firm to get back on-line. The technologies he developed have been awarded nineteen US Patents to date. Most recently his research and development have concentrated on leveraging big data and mobile technologies.

Tim is the proud father of Dr. Allison Pace of Shreveport, La. and two teenaged sons who reside with him and his wife Linda in Morristown, NJ. He is very active in volunteerism and donates his leadership and technical skills to several community and youth service organizations. Tim can be reached via email at tim.h.heaton@gmail.com.

Advertisement
6 Comments

6 Comments

  1. Toots Waddell

    September 11, 2014 at 2:12 pm

    Tim.
    Thank God you were spared that day. Your parents, Tim and Gayle, who are my dear friends; your family, and the rest of the U.S. would have lost quite a guy. Thanks for sharing.
    Go Rebels!

  2. Debi Parnell

    September 11, 2014 at 10:13 pm

    God bless, Tim. Your words painted a surreal picture. So happy you’re here to tell that story.

  3. John Bartolucci

    September 12, 2014 at 4:24 pm

    I knew you were in there and just needed something to help you get out. So happy to see you write like this. I felt very alone yesterday, like nobody remembered any more.
    All my best,
    JB

  4. Cheryl Borelli

    September 17, 2014 at 9:00 am

    Your story touched my heart Tim. I was on a conference call with a co-worker who was in the building when the first plane struck. The line went dead, but fortunately he was in a lower floor and made it out. Thank God you made the choices you did that horrible day.
    Warm Regards,
    Cheryl

  5. ddc-codes.com

    April 15, 2018 at 12:20 am

    So now it can be a easy way when we know the way to have the codes here.

  6. internet explorer

    January 28, 2019 at 6:04 am

    This is a perfect choice for your internet applications like the how to open internet explorer on windows 10. This is a perfect option for the browsing and it give the more chance for the extremely fast speed.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

2024 Ole Miss Football

Sat, Aug 31Furman Logovs Furman W, 76-0
Sat, Sep 7Middle Tennessee Logovs Middle TennesseeW, 52-3
Sat, Sep 14Wake Forest Logo@ Wake ForestW, 40-6
Sat, Sep 21Georgia Southern Logovs Georgia SouthernW, 52-13
Sat, Sep 28Kentucky Logovs KentuckyL, 20-17
Sat, Oct 5South Carolina Logo@ South CarolinaW, 27-3
Sat, Oct 12LSU Logovs LSUL, 29-26 (2 OT)
Sat, Oct 26Oklahoma Logovs OklahomaW, 26-14
Sat, Nov 2Arkansas Logo@ ArkansasW, 63-35
Sat, Nov 16Georgia Logovs GeorgiaW, 28-10
Sat, Nov 23Florida Logo@ FloridaL, 24-17
Sat, Nov 30Mississippi State Logovs Mississippi StateW, 26-14
Thu, Jan 2Duke Logovs Duke (Gator Bowl)W, 52-20

Ole Miss Men’s Basketball

Mon, Nov 4Long Island University Logovs Long Island University W, 90-60
Fri, Nov 8Grambling Logovs GramblingW, 66-64
Tue, Nov 12South Alabama Logovs South AlabamaW, 64-54
Sat, Nov 16Colorado State Logovs Colorado StateW, 84-69
Thu, Nov 21Oral Roberts Logovs Oral RobertsL, 100-68
Thu, Nov 28BYU Logovs BYUW, 96-85 OT
Fri, Nov 29Purdue Logovs 13 PurdueL, 80-78
Tue, Dec 3Louisville Logo@ LouisvilleW, 86-63
Sat, Dec 7Lindenwood Logovs LindenwoodW, 86-53
Sat, Dec 14Georgia Logovs Southern MissW, 77-46
Tue, Dec 17Southern Logovs SouthernW, 74-61
Sat, Dec 21Queens University Logovs Queens UniversityW, 80-62
Sat, Dec 28Memphis Logo@ MemphisL, 87-70
Sat, Jan 4Georgia Logovs Georgia11:00 AM
SECN
Wed, Jan 8Arkansas Logo@ 23 Arkansas6:00 PM
TBA
Sat, Jan 11LSU Logovs LSU5:00 PM
SECN
Tue, Jan 14Alabama Logo@ 5 Alabama6:00 PM
TBA
Sat, Jan 18Mississippi State Logo@ 17 Mississippi State5:00 PM
TBA
Wed, Jan 22Texas A&M State Logovs 13 Texas A&M8:00 PM
TBA
Sat, Jan 25Missouri Logo@ Missouri5:00 PM
SECN
Wed, Jan 29Texas Logovs Texas8:00 PM
ESPN2
Sat, Feb 1Auburn Logovs 2 Auburn3:00 PM
TBA
Tue, Feb 4Kentucky Logovs 10 Kentucky6:00 PM
ESPN
Sat, Feb 8LSU Logo@ LSU7:30 PM
SECN
Wed, Feb 12South Carolina Logo@ South Carolina6:00 PM
SECN
Sat, Feb 15Mississippi State Logovs 17 Mississippi State5:00 PM
TBA
Sat, Feb 22Auburn Logo@ Vanderbilt2:30 PM
SECN
Wed, Feb 26Auburn Logo@ 2 Auburn6:00 PM
TBA
Sat, Mar 1Oklahoma Logovs 12 Oklahoma1:00 PM
TBA
Wed, Mar 5Tennessee Logovs 1 Tennessee8:00 PM
TBA
Sat, Mar 8Florida Logo@ 6 Florida5:00 PM
SECN

@ COPYRIGHT 2024 BY HT MEDIA LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. HOTTYTODDY.COM IS AN INDEPENT DIGITAL ENTITY NOT AFFILIATED WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI.