Mike Randolph

Senior Vice President, Wealth Consultant

"I thought my knees were giving out but then I realized the building actually moved. I thought my life was over." With solemn eyes, Mike Randolph of Vestavia, AL recalls his World Trade Center experience on September 11,2001. "I grabbed the stairwell railing and everything went into slow motion. People were falling into my back and down the stairs."

Randolph's business trip to New York City started two days earlier. "In our meeting room on the sixty-third floor we had a magnificent view of the Statue of Liberty. On my way back from a break, I heard a loud explosion. People began screaming to evacuate. As I hurried to get my coat and cell phone, I looked out the window. The view was solid debris and soot." No one knew the Tower next to theirs had been stuck by a terrorist high-jacked plane.

Everyone talked nonchalantly as they descended the stairs. "At the fortieth floor the Port Authority announced the building was secured and to return to our offices. But the head of security for our company commanded everyone to keep going down."
Fatigued, they pressed on. "At floor eighteen I heard the loudest explosion I've ever heard." A second plane struck his tower. "Alarms resonated and emergency lights flashed off and on. I was sure the building was coming down."

Facing death, Randolph found his true self. "I recited the Lord's Prayer several times followed by the names of my family. I was able to remain calm while others did not. Two men finally stopped everyone and shouted that no one was going to proceed unless everyone calmed down."

Smoke filled the stairwell as he began to pass firefighters heading up towards certain death. "I will never forget their faces emblazed with fear and determination." Outside the tower Randolph walked in disbelief. "A block away we stood in shock as the towers fell. When it was over, it was just like the movies. We turned and ran for our lives."

"That day changed my life. Three weeks later I found myself happily playing with my little niece giving no thought to the football game on TV, something I wouldn't have done before."

Greg Powell, president of Fi-Plan Partners, where Randolph is a senior vice president and wealth advisor, affirms his change. "Mike has always been a compassionate person, but after 9/11 his ability to walk someone through hard times, regardless of their financial situation, is greater than before."

Surprisingly, Randolph honeymooned in New York less than a year later and visited Ground Zero. "I cried but was glad I went. I never had any nightmares and I contribute that to my faith. It's also helps to talk about it with friends, family, church groups, clubs and students. It allows me to encourage people to live everyday as it's their last."

Though it is cliché, perhaps if we reflect this month through the eyes of one of Birmingham's own, our knees will begin to give out and we will truly begin to live life as he does.

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