Comments on: Continental 1404, Pan Am 103, and thoughts on dodging bullets

By: Amy Gahran

Amy Gahran — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:45:00 +0000

Thanks Brenda. I hadn’t heard the news of this prison release. I went looking around, and saw the WSJ Law blog had an excellent post exploring the issue of compassionate release: http://bit.ly/9oSU6

Here’s what I commented there:

“As someone who lost a college friend on Pan Am 103, and who flew home from London on the same flight the next day, I feel no outrage over Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi’s release to Libya. He’ll be dead soon enough, and not in a pleasant fashion. I see no need to physically torture the man — and I’m fairly certain that dealing with terminal cancer in prison would amount to torture. The penal system should not be about revenge.”

I expect folks will disagree with me. That’s fine.

I’m sorry for the loss of your classmates. I remember that day well.

- Amy Gahran

By: Brenda Siegelman

Brenda Siegelman — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:21:26 +0000

Thank you for that.
I was a Temple RTF student at the time. Today, as the man who was convicted of the bombing is released for humanitarian reason, I was looking for a written remembrance of the classmates that I never got to welcome home. Thank you again for sharing your story. It meant a lot to me.

By: JohnB

JohnB — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 04:26:25 +0000

Thanks for writing down the thoughts that many of us have had – it reminds me that we’re never truly alone or forgotten.

By: Libby

Libby — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 01:48:57 +0000

Hi Amy,

I had a college acquaintance who died on that flight as well. I was studying abroad when the crash happened, so I didn’t learn of his death until several years later, when I casually asked a fellow alum, “Hey, where’s David?” And there was this awkward silence, “Didn’t you know?” So I had this weird experience of grieving years later when everyone else had gotten over it. His brother later wrote a book about it. He even posted some old tape recordings of his brother at http://boywhofell.com/blog/2006/03/welcome_sort_of.html

The strange reaction I have had is always feeling like I better do something good with my life to justify the fact that I lived and he died. It’s hard to live up to. I saw a photo of someone at a memorial service in the L.A. Times this morning and it made me start thinking about him all over again. When I look over the list of all the people who died, I think about all the other people who knew them and who are probably reading over the list just like me.

When I read your piece, it made me think about all the things I have done over the years since 1988. So thanks.

By: Amy Gahran

Amy Gahran — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 18:17:07 +0000

Thanks so much for sharing that story, Wendy. I hope Denise is doing well, but I know life can be really rough and cruel, too.

- Amy

By: Suebob

Suebob — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 06:05:54 +0000

I have a sticker of La Catrina http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catrina on the back of my car to remind me that the Angel of Death is always sitting on our shoulder. To me, this is not macabre, but a way to make life richer, to remind myself to appreciate the moments I have left.

By: Wendy

Wendy — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 04:28:11 +0000

I came across this by accident when I googled Diane. I was listening to the radio on my way to work this morning and was reminded that it was the anniversary of Pan Am 103. I was in college at Thomas Jefferson in Philadelphia studying nursing & my best friend, Anne Marie, was in the Diagnostic Imagery division. She had spent the night two nights previous studying with Diane’s twin, Denise, and then they took finals. They stayed in the city to celebrate the end of school and Anne Marie stayed over at Denise’s. When Anne Marie woke up in the morning Denise was already awake and told Anne Marie that she couldn’t sleep. She didn’t say she any feelings of doom or anything, just that she was on edge and couldn’t sleep. Anne Marie thought it was because of finals, etc. Denise had made something for them to eat and as they sat down to eat they turned on the TV and learned of the plane crash. Denise knew right away that her twin, Diane, was dead and called her mom to tell her not to go to the airport because Diane was dead. I haven’t seen Denise in many years, but the last I saw her she was not doing well. She has always been in my thoughts over the years and I have always wished that she could find some sort of peace.

By: Karoli

Karoli — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 21:53:51 +0000

Amy, thank you so much for writing this. It was exactly what I needed to read today. Sometimes perspective is all that’s lacking. You provided it.

By: Amy Gahran

Amy Gahran — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 19:53:32 +0000

Thanks, Joanne

The really weird thing is, I don’t know that dodging this particular bullet “shaped” me much at all. I mean, if that flight hadn’t gotten bombed, or if some other flight that I wasn’t on had… would my life be much different? I dunno. Maybe it did shape me, but it mostly just feels like something that happened, not necessarily more or less significant than any other bullet that anyone else might have dodged…

Thanks, though. I’m glad this piece was meaningful to you.

- Amy

By: Joanne White

Joanne White — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 19:47:25 +0000

Amy, thank you so much for writing this post. It really is a wonderful piece. This is part of your life story that people will remember shaped you, and which you will reflect on in that nursing home one day in the very far off future.
Not to be morbid, but I did enjoy the sentence, “I’ve helped, inspired, frustrated, confused, and annoyed people.” That, my friend, is an epitaph we should all love to have.
That said, I’m so glad epitaphs are not something we ponder. I’m reminded of bullets dodged myself (a head-on collision that *miraculously* didn’t happen), and take a moment to be grateful for my blessings.
Then as we all do, I will make some tea and simply get on with today.
Thanks Amy, for adding a little extra meaning to it.