Broken News

There are places you want to be.

And times you don’t want to be there.

I can’t imagine being in New York on September 11, 2001.

Or in Littleton, Colorado on April 20, 1999.

Or anywhere near Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Tonight I am in my hotel room.

About 15 miles from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The night we all learned Osama Bin Laden is dead.

A night no human will forget anytime soon.

A night we have all been waiting for.

A night many of us thought would never come.

It was just this afternoon our group visited the Pentagon Memorial.

Feet away from where American Airlines Flight 77 hit the building.

And now the news that the person responsible for that attack is gone.

It’s pretty amazing.

Surreal.

Knowing that I was in DC, my friends were texting me by the bushel.

My favorite text said that Donald Trump was demanding Osama's death certificate.

The reaction from inside The White House was historic.

The reaction from just outside The White House was beyond words.

If I didn’t have to be an alert chaperone in just a few hours, I would probably be there.

If I had a car, I know I would be there.

But the good news is I will touring inside that White House later this week.

At least that was the plan.

It’s been the plan for a few months.

When we first got the approval.

Um, so much for those best laid plans.

I’m guessing that all changed tonight.

Don’t get me wrong, this breaking news is beyond more important than any single stop on our tour. 

But selfishly I wish this news would’ve come out after our visit.

This is just a guess.

But my guess is The Obamas won’t be entertaining any visitors this week.

Like everyone else in this great country of ours, I will never forget where I was on the morning of 9/11.

I got a call at home that morning.

Very early that morning at my home in California.

My friend Erik said turn on the TV.

I said what channel.

He said it doesn’t matter.

I will also never forget where I was when we got this news.

Standing outside the elevator on the 4th floor of our hotel.

Just miles from the West Wing.

Literally seconds earlier I had checked to see if President Obama would be at the White House this week.

And I had just learned that answer was yes.

Then within seconds one of the chaperones told us to turn on CNN.

Now we all know why.

I’m still hoping we get that chance to visit The White House.

But just being in Washington DC this week is what we we all remember.

Forever.