G'bye, Joan

Lynn's mother, Joan, passed away earlier this afternoon. She was a sweet woman, eager to share her love, good humor, and faith. She was admitted to the hospital on Saturday with serious breathing difficulties. In just a few days, it was time for her to cross the river. Her five children, 18 grandchildren, and various in-laws and friends will stay on this shore. She drew strength from big family gatherings, so we'll have a big party to energize her for the journey.

We know the when. Here's the who, what, and where.

One of the engineers in our group sent an email at about 9:20, informing us that a plane had crashed into one of the towers in the World Trade Center. We assumed that it was a small plane that had strayed off course. We thought that for a while until word came around that a second plane had hit the other tower. We then learned that the planes were big machines - Boeing 767s. In the next hours, we learned more about the other plane crashes, the buildings and people affected, and, of course, My Pet Goat.

People in the office started asking the managers what they should or could do. A few of the managers met in my office where we held a speaker-phone call with the vice president of human resources. We asked if he or the executive management had any advice for us. He said that he would be sending a message to the company by noon. While waiting for his message, I sent email to the people on my team, telling them that they should be where they needed to be and that each person should give a hug to someone they loved.

By early afternoon, most people, including yours truly, had gone home.

Doug Gowell, a product manager from a former company, was on United Flight 175.