Remembering

The big question used to be "where were you when President Kennedy was shot?" Still an important question for many, but being replaced with "where were you on 9/11/01?" It doesn't seem possible that seven years have passed since that day. I was in Burnt Hills, New York, on my very first "away" mission. I had lectured the night before and was in a church hall with a group of women for the labeling class. We had just started when a church official came running in to tell us about the planes. Several of the women had family in the airline industry. We kept running from the classroom to the sanctuary to watch unfolding events on their television. So very hard to grasp what we were doing with what was going on elsewhere in our country.

On my way home, I stopped at a cemetary that I had passed the day before on my way to Burnt Hills. I had noticed the beautiful statuary and wanted to take a closer look. This is one of the pictures from that day. How blue the sky was, how perfect the day. As I traveled the Thruway that day I stopped a couple times at the rest areas. People were literally milling--watching the televisions, feeling and looking like they were at loose ends--what should we do, what else would happen. So much silence, so much disbelief that this could happen to us--in America, on our home soil.

As 9/11/08 comes to a close, let's give heartfelt thanks to those brave soldiers fighting to keep our country safe. A prayer that the families who lost loved ones on 9/11/01 have found a measure of peace and comfort--realizing at the same time that nothing can replace what they have lost. Thanks also to the men and women who responded on that fateful day--firemen, police, everyday citizens who became heroes that day. We owe you all a debt of gratitude.

Remember how America was covered with flags after 9/11/01? Let's keep those flags flying and that American "can do" spirit alive every day. We are the greatest nation on earth and UNDER GOD!!!! Let's not forget that...ever!!!!