Man recalls how a simple gift on 9/11 saved his life when he was heading to the Twin Towers

Many people are bent on the concept of the 'nick of time.' Some consider it fate, while others call it a stroke of luck. For a few people who nearly escaped the terror attack of 9/11 in New York City, it's the simplest explanation that saved their lives. A businessman named Joseph Lott is among those people and has the most extraordinary story of how fate and luck saved him on that dreadful day. The thing that saved Lott that day was a tie, per The Atlantic. Lott was meeting a few colleagues at the Marriott Hotel which stood between the Twin Towers just minutes before the attack. Everything was on schedule, life was moving, and no one anticipated the destruction that would follow in the next few hours. 

On the morning of September 11, 2001, Lott threw on a pastel green shirt and left to meet his coworker Elaine Myra and a few others at the hotel to quickly finish up on a presentation, per New Jersey. The businessman loved art-inspired ties and adored intricate, well-designed pieces to complement his professional attire. Myra, aware of his love for the same, gifted him a special tie on her return from a trip to the Berkshires. The tie depicted the famous artist Claude Monet’s "Sunset at Lavacourt," featuring the colors scarlet, purple, and a few other orange hues. 

The duo had a warm conversation about the gift and Lott was eager to put it on for the presentation they were all headed for. “I said, ‘This is such a nice gesture. I think I am going to put this on and wear it as I speak,’” he recalled. “She said, ‘Well, not with that shirt. You’re not going to put on a red-and-blue tie with a green shirt,’” he remembered. While everyone headed to the North Tower at the World Trade Center, Lott decided to run to his room to iron another shirt just so he could put on the tie. 

As Lott tried to iron his shirt as quickly as possible and straighten things up, within minutes, his life changed. As he was heading out to the tower for his presentation, he saw smoke, debris, chaos and confusion. He had no idea what was happening and was evacuated before understanding about the plane crashing into the towers. Soon, Lott learned that the few extra minutes he took to put on the tie saved his life. That gift became a life-saving one. 

Lott had no idea and could only hope for the best as he made his way back to safety. However, when one of his colleague's son asked him, “Where’s my dad?” he knew none of the others made it out. "This is when everything hit me. I just instinctively knew that none of them had made it out. I hung up and I started to cry. And I cried across the bridge,” he recalled. @Interestin_Fax shared a post of Lott with the tie that "saved his life." Years later, Lott can’t understand why he was spared. He remembers his colleagues to this day and has a special place in his heart for Myra. As for the tie she gifted him, Lott has it held more than a prized possession. Right from wearing it to the Rotary to speak about 9/11 to his daughter's wedding, he finds in the tie a way of honoring his beloved colleagues.

This article originally appeared 3 months ago.