Tim Heaton says for his entire working career he had risen before 5 a.m. and been at his desk by 7 a.m. Normally, he would have been on the 105th floor of the North Tower that Tuesday morning, but Heaton says he was asked by his boss, now Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, to work his schedule.
"Which basically meant 9 to 9. That Tuesday was the first day I had to do that. As a creature of habit, I got up at the usual time at 5:00. I was completely dressed by 7:00 a.m., and I was expecting to leave then, but I waited for my sons to wake up,” recalls Heaton. “I remember looking down on my watch, fully dressed in the kitchen. Time just stood still, and something told me to hang around and see them off to school."
Heaton explains that the decision to stay home was spurred by the fact that his new schedule would not allow him to see his children at night during the week. Mornings would be his only time with them.
However, Heaton says that he was becoming agitated with the threat of being late to work. After waiting around three hours for his sons to leave, Heaton still had a rough time getting to the office. Among other delays, he had to get gas and deal with a crowded expressway.
Heaton comments that he finally made it downtown and would be get to his job on time. But he became distracted by people around him pointing toward the sky.
"When I finally got to my parking garage, I saw the building. When I parked my car and walked out, I saw flames on 105th floor pouring out. It was obvious that people were in trouble right on the floor that I worked in. I called my wife to let her know I was okay, and that's when I heard and then saw the second plane hit the building," states Heaton.
At first, Heaton believed he could help, but everyone began to scatter, and mobs of people came from the tunnel at the Path station to leave the World Trade Center. Heaton says that, from there, he left his car in the garage and took a train home, a train he described as “packed but orderly, and the passengers were eerily quiet.”
"From the train, I saw both towers fall. It wasn't until much later that I realized that I saw these little steps that kept me out of the building, and it was a gift," expresses Heaton.
Heaton says God's gift has given him faith that there is a plan—one beyond his understanding.
“I’m often asked about the path I didn’t take that day, about what might have been. My answer is simple: I don’t fear what could have happened. Those near-misses, those seconds of divine timing, remind me that faith gives me courage—not for the road I avoided, but for the path I’m on,” concludes Heaton.
