HOUSTON – A Spring couple fell in love in the days following the tragic day of Sept. 11, 2001.
“I boarded a plane September 11, in London, Gatwick to come home,” said Diane Marson.
Aboard Continental Airlines Flight 5 from London to Houston, Diane Kirschke was flying back from vacation and Nick Marson was heading to Houston for work.
While they flew over the Atlantic Ocean, two planes crashed into the twin towers in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon and a fourth plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.
“About four hours into the flight, the captain came on over the intercom and said there were problems with American airspace,” Nick Marson said. “I noticed that our flight attendant was almost as white as a sheet, and she looked like she was visibly shaking.”
For the first time in history, the Federal Aviation Administration closed United States airspace.
Thirty-eight jetliners bound for the U.S. were forced to land at Gander International Airport in Newfoundland, Canada. About 7,000 people descended on the small, rural town.
“It was like being taken out of a horrible storm and landing in an island of angels,” Diane Marson said.
Nick and Diane ended up in the same shelter.
“I just went over to her, and I said, ‘Is it alright if I bed down here?’ And she went, ‘Sure,’” said Nick Marson. “We’ve got a lot to talk about because we come from totally different backgrounds, different countries.”
When the locals took stranded passengers on a tour of the area, Nick and Diane shared a special moment at Dover Fault when Nick took a picture.
“I said, ‘No, no, no. Stay there,’” Nick Marson said.
“That’s when I knew he was interested in me and not the scenery,” Diane Marson responded.
Their relationship blossomed before it was time to leave four days later.
“We were on the school bus, in the back, and I just grabbed him and gave him a big kiss because I thought, ‘If I don’t do it now, when we get to Houston, he’s going his way, I’m going my way,” said Diane Marson.
But not even 5,000 miles between them could keep Nick and Diane apart.
After many phone calls and one trip, nick popped the question.
“Early November, I’m back in England, and I’m in my car and I propose to her over the phone,” said Nick Marson.
They married on September 7, 2002, and even traveled back to Gander for their honeymoon.
“It was something out of a movie that doesn’t happen to real people,” Nick Marson said.
Now, their love story is portrayed in the Broadway Musical “Come From Away,” which has been shown around the world.
The couple has seen it live 118 times.
“Everybody just jumps up and you’re laughing and you’re clapping, and the music,” said Diane Marson.
Now, 20 years later, the Marsons reflect on September 11.
“We found such happiness in the wake of such a disaster when so many families had lost so many members,” Nick Marson said.
But the couple focuses on the days when they built a new love in Gander.
“They demonstrated to the rest of the world, what the best of humanity is,” Nick Marson said.
Apple TV+ is set to release a filmed version of the musical on September 10.
It’s reopening on Broadway on Sept. 21 and will visit Houston in 2022.