Twenty-five years after a chance meeting in a Newfoundland shelter, Nick and Diane Marson remain together – the couple’s extraordinary romance having begun when their flight was diverted during the September 11 attacks and later inspired the hit musical Come From Away.
Nick, a British oil industry worker from London, and Diane, a Texan returning home to Houston, were among nearly 6,700 passengers sent to Gander after 38 aircraft were diverted from US airspace on September 11, 2001.
The passengers were taken to communities around Gander, where local residents opened public buildings, schools and homes to accommodate them. Nick was sent to Gambo, about 30 minutes away, and assigned a cot in the Society of United Fishermen hall.
He was waiting for an army blanket when he began chatting to Diane, who was standing beside him in the queue. They joked about the smell of mothballs on the blankets and soon chose neighbouring cots.
“We spent a lot of time talking about our lives, because we came from two different backgrounds, so we had a lot of things to discuss,” Nick, now 77, said.
Diane, 85, had been visiting her son, an Air Force serviceman stationed in England. The pair discovered that they had travelled on the same aircraft and shared similar priorities, having both been married before, raised children and placed family at the centre of their lives.
“Our families mean so much to us and we both try to be helpful and respectful to other people, whether they agree with you or not,” Diane said.
The couple spent the next five days exploring the area and trying to escape the relentless television coverage of the attacks. At a convenience shop, Diane paid for their snacks, hoping to extend their time together.
That evening they attended a Newfoundland “screech-in”, a traditional ceremony in which visitors drink rum and kiss a fish before being declared honorary Newfoundlanders. Their chemistry was so apparent that they were mistaken for a married couple.
When they explained that they were not, the master of ceremonies – who was also a justice of the peace – offered to marry them. Diane responded: “Why not?”
The moment that convinced Diane Nick was interested came during a trip to the Dover Fault, a geological feature marking the place where North America and Europe were once joined.
Nick wanted a photograph to preserve their day together. When Diane tried to step out of the frame so that he could capture the landscape, he stopped her.
“I wanted to make sure that I remembered what she looked like… I didn’t want to forget. And at that point, I didn’t think I’d ever see her again,” he said.
“That’s when I knew he was interested in me and not the scenery,” Diane recalled.
When flights resumed five days later, the pair boarded a school bus to return to their aircraft. Diane began crying as she contemplated leaving the Newfoundland residents who had cared for the stranded passengers as if they were family.
Nick put his arm around her and kissed her forehead. Diane then kissed him, fearing they might never meet again.
“He lived 5,000 miles away – the chances of us ever meeting were about zero,” she said.
The couple spent the flight to Texas close together, prompting a flight attendant to joke that they might need cold towels instead of hot ones. Once Nick returned to London, they kept in touch by email and long weekend telephone calls.
Within a month, Nick arranged another business trip to Houston. A month after that, he proposed over the telephone from his car, unable to wait until they were reunited in person. Diane accepted.
“It was less than two months after we’d met, but we knew we wanted to be together,” she said.
Nick moved to the United States after the couple spent a year dealing with immigration paperwork and introducing each other to their families. They married on September 7, 2002.
The Newfoundland meeting that inspired Come From Away
For their honeymoon, the newlyweds returned to Newfoundland, where local friends had planned a thank-you dinner for the couple. Instead, the islanders surprised them with a wedding reception, a cake and a song about their romance written and performed by the mayor of Gambo.
Newfoundland has since become a home from home for the Marsons. They have returned nine times and continued to keep in close contact with the friends they made during the crisis.
Their story remained largely private until they appeared in a 2010 documentary about Gander’s response to the attacks. The couple said they had initially felt uncomfortable discussing their happiness against the backdrop of the thousands of lives devastated on September 11.
In 2011, musical writers Irene Sankoff and David Hein met the Marsons while researching the stories behind the passengers and residents of Gander. Their experiences became part of Come From Away, which later won Tony and Olivier awards and brought the Newfoundland welcome to audiences around the world.
The musical’s official filmed version, released on Apple TV+ in 2021, tells the story of the roughly 7,000 passengers stranded in Gander after flights into the US were grounded.
The Marsons have watched the stage production at least 160 times, including performances on Broadway and in regional productions. Nick said Diane regards each viewing as a renewal of their vows.
“It takes us back to those wonderful five days… sometimes, you think, ‘Was it real?’” he said.
As Gander prepares to mark the 25th anniversary of September 11 with a commemorative service on Friday, the town is also hosting performances of Come From Away around the anniversary. The events will remember those who died, recognise the people who helped and reflect on the lasting relationships formed during the six days the passengers spent in Newfoundland.
For the Marsons, the tragedy remains inseparable from their own history, but they no longer feel guilty for finding one another amid the devastation.
“We didn’t cause it, so we probably shouldn’t feel guilty that we found each other,” Nick said.
Diane added: “We just enjoy spending time together because we know how precious it is.”
