09/12/2026
When thinking how to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, I want to take you back to Jacob Lake Inn on September 11th, 2001. To give perspective, in 2001, Jacob Lake Inn still had payphones outside, we'd only had a website for a few years, and our waiters and waitresses still put orders into our kitchen with handwritten tickets. At that time, our beautiful area of the world was more remote and disconnected from the outside world than it is now.
That morning had started like any other, guests from all over the world venturing in for breakfast, coffee cups clinking as people began to converse around our 1950s diner counter and share their tales from the North Rim. And then we got a phone call.
"Turn on the TV to the news right now. There has been a terrorist attack in New York City." The only TV we had available was a small set in our lobby. We did our best to get reception, and fiddled with dials and angled it to get the clearest picture through the snow of static. There it was, the first tower burning. Someone let out a cry, "what is happening?" Guests rose from their seats, gathering around the lobby TV to watch as the second plane hit. We gasped in collective horror as the South Tower fell. People ran to pay phones, walked outside to make phone calls. Returning with tear stained faces and expressions of fear and unknown. They knew people inside. They had friends, family, coworkers in New York.
In our lobby, I watched the world grieve together. People from Europe, Asia, Canada, South America and the US cried together in disbelief, for loss of life, and for what this could mean for the future. For hours they sat on chairs, the floor, or stood huddled together, arms around each other. People joined. People left, but everyone paused for minutes or hours to commune and comfort. We kept that TV on for days. Kept the space open for people to support and care for each other.
Each year on 9/11, I remember that scene, remember how it felt to stand together with a handful of the world's people and watch those terrible scenes unfold. I cant imagine a place I would have rather been, especially so close to the Grand Canyon, a symbol of beauty, peace, and connection for so many. It helps me remember that when tragedy happens it is our shared humanity and our genuine ability to connect that is what so often shines.
Each year I watch clips, films and footage of those brave people who carried others down thousands of steps, went back in the building for one more, ferried thousands off the island on personal boats, washed faces full of ash and pain to help them see and get to safety. It is the families, the first responders, or as Mr Rogers always said, in tragedy and chaos, "look for the helpers" and you will see the heart of a people and a country.
25 years later, we at Jacob Lake Inn remember and mourn the tragic loss of thousands of innocent people and the ripple affect that loss and love has created since. We will never forget the heroism, the kindness, or the helpers on that day and the days that followed.
