November 11, 2008
Thank You, Veterans
Veterans present and past who give their best to people like me… Thank you.
November 6, 2008
Us&Them Community
Facebook
I remember the day I joined Facebook. In the beginning, FB was for students only. The only way you could get an account was to have an email address that was in a .edu domain. On September 26, 2006, I woke up to NPR telling me that that restriction had been lifted effective that day. So I joined. Although I didn’t do anything with it for a long time, I just have to try out all the new stuff.
One of the FB features that I find myself getting into are the Status Updates. This is a one liner that is ostensibly there to tell people what you are doing or how you feel at that moment. FB gives you a page where you get a running list of the statuses of all of your “FB friends”. It can be quite fun to just read through them and add your comments. I find it fun and fascinating to “keep up” with details about people I know.
Another unexpected feature for me is the ability to connect with old friends. I have many FB friends who I knew in Boone back in the early 80’s. Other FB friends are from our time when we were in Charleston. Watching their statuses tells me about what’s going on in their lives in a way that was never possible before. Think about it. Before internet social networking tools like FB, the only way to “catch up” with a friend was to write them, call on the phone or visit. All of these take a fair amount of effort. I could never keep up with what hundreds of my friends think is important or what they are feeling at any given time. I suppose we could use public access TV or a newspaper to publish what is going on in our lives, but that would be weird. My friend, Mark would say the transaction cost is way too high.
Enter FB. Now by virtue of the ease with which I can post my status and knowing that my friends can see it instantly, I put things up like, “Jim Anderson is sad” or “Jim Anderson is writing a blog about FB statuses”. In fact these are my latest statuses. A dear FB friend asks, “why sad, Jim?” I’ll tell you…
The Election
Watching the posts and statuses of my friends as the election approached, I was struck by the polarity of it all. I have some friends who were nuts about Obama and others who were fearful of Obama. I may be wrong, but I did not see many posts that were pro McCain… just anti-Obama. I recently wrote about how I chose to be much more involved in the political process than ever before. To a political junkie, it was nothing, but compared to years past, I was way more engaged and informed.
Now that the election is over, my overall feeling is sadness. Some of you will automatically assume I am sad about the outcome of the presidential race. You would be wrong. I am sad because of the lack of personal awareness that I see in people and the lack of respect that people show for others who disagree with them. I am sick because of an “us” and “them” (us&them) mentality.
One of the greatest things about our nation is the freedom that we have to express ourselves and our ability to vote for whomever we want to for whatever reason we want to. We don’t need to hide our feelings or express them. That is a wonderful privelege. Although it is one of the most natural behaviors in the human race, I detest the polarization of us and them. It happens so quickly and easily. We gather together and find our commonalities over time and others who share that join us. Before you know it we are an “us”, which automatically means there is a “them”. Politics is fertile ground for us&them. I am sure it always was, but I did not realize it as much as I do now. Add to the politics the us&thems of religion and race as in this election and it’s like freshly composted manure to grow a “healthy” crop of us&themism!
As I sorted out my own feelings about the issues and attempted to process who was the candidate that I aligned best with, I realized it was a study in futility. Neither of these guys represented my ideals. Some of the issues I feel strongly about were a complete wash. It did not matter who I voted for. As I tend to do, I used the opportunity for self examination. What was the process showing me about myself? Here are a few items that I feel very strongly about and which guided my vote for the highest offices (President, Governer and Senate).
- I hate lies and inuendo. I received so many scary messages about Barak Obama that I was almost ready to totally unsubscribe from email. They did help me come to a decision, although probably not the way that was intended.
- Looking across the landscape of my FB friends, I was reminded that the assumption that Christians vote Republican is alive and well. From what I have read recently and my own experience with the Emerging Church, I think that more Xians have recently abandoned that paradigm. News flash! Many committed Xians hold liberal political views and vice-versa. While politics can certainly be influenced by our faith, it doesn’t alway add up to the same thing in every person.
- Fear is alive and well. At each of the debates, I saw the candidates on both sides deflecting the questions. Rather than telling us what they would do if elected, they told us how bad it would be if the other guy got in. This clinched it for me. I decided that I would not vote out of fear.
There were a few other factors that guided my decision in a positive way, but I am sleepy and the post is too long already.
Let me close with a paraphrase of the words of Jesus. When asked what was most important, he replied, “Love God and love your neighbor as yourself”. My hope and prayer is that we can all move to a place where we respect and value the thoughts, feelings and beliefs of those who disagree with us. Who knows, it might be the beginning of something big.
October 26, 2008
Random News
Trip to the Mountains
Jeanie and I spent this past weekend in the Mtns of NC. Our main purpose was just to get away and take a break from the pressure cooker that life has been lately. This was our first time at a Bed and Breakfast and I think we chose well. The Mast Farm Inn is an old house that has been restored as a B & B. They treated us very well! We used to live up there and still have lots of friends in the area, but we chose not to let anyone know we were coming. We just didn’t know what the weekend would hold. We did end up visiting with several good friends. Other highlights:
I visited my trees. Last year I wrote about my job planting trees. There was one particular site that was near where we lived that I have visited many times. They have gotten rather large! I wonder if they will be harvested anytime soon for lumber. (click the photo to see it larger)
We have wonderful memories of hiking at Price Lake, so we took a trip around “memory trail”, which was a muddy mess in one section. It was cloudy and cool at first, but by the time we finished, the sun was out and it was a beautiful day.- Since the sun came out, we visited the Lynn Cove Viaduct. I also worked on the construction of this bridge for several months, which I also wrote about last year. It is very cool to visit something so much bigger than I am, but that I played a small role in building.
- I started reading Reaching Out, by Henri Nouwen. I wanted a book that would drive me to reflective thought and meditation. Nouwen usually does that well. This was no exception. The timeliness of this message in the place I am in life is remarkable. It feels like Nouwen is interpreting events, thoughts and stirings that I have had over recent months and years.
Finished “A Thousand Splendid Suns”
My sister-in-law recommended this to me (and loaned it to me too). A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini reminds me a lot of his earlier work the Kite Runner. The setting is Afghanistan as he follows the lives of two women from different backgrounds, but who’s lives come together. Both stories have helped me to understand a little better about the history and ways of life in Afghanistan. If nothing else, when I hear anything about the Taliban, I now have a vivid picture of some very evil men. I recommend both of these books by Hosseini’s. Thanks Cathryn.
Erin’s Latest Accomplishment
I am so very proud of all of my daughters. They are each making their respective marks on the world in huge ways and I am proud of them all. Every once in a while, one of them just takes things completely to the next level and I cannot ignore it. I will not belabor the point and I’m getting too choked up to describe it anyway, please check it out for yourself here. Can’t you see me in her?
October 19, 2008
Politics
Keeping in mind that the purpose of this blog is to communicate first and foremost who I am to my family, both present and future, I want to express some thoughts about the political process. This post is not about who to vote for (or against) nor is it about any of the particular issues that this particular national election seems to turn on. These are just my thoughts and observations:
The Game
The political process is not really about solving issues. It is about getting into office. Not that I doubt the sincere desire of those who are running for office. I am sure that they truly care about the economy, the environment, human rights… it is just that right now, they are trying to get into office. It is understandable. If they don’t win, they don’t get to put any of their ideas into practice. The other candidate does. As a result, they say whatever they think will get them into office knowing that at best they won’t have full control to do what they say anyway due to the checks and balances in our system of government.
Fear
This irritates me to no end. I hear more arguments against “the other side” from the candidates (and folks who have already decided) than reasons to vote for “us”. These kinds of statements attempt to persuade out of fear of what will happen if the other guy gets in i.e. “Obama is a closet Muslim”, “McCain = four more years of the same thing” etc. They capitalize on our fear of the unknown.
I am afraid of fear. Fear causes us to react without thinking. It appeals to our primitive nature, which works very well for escaping danger, but sucks for making political choices. Fear causes suspicion. It hinders listening to one another. Fear polarizes us.
Polarization
As a friend said in my group this morning, we are all in the same boat. We have different ideas about how to solve real world issues, but we all have a vested interest in making the world a better place. Broadly speaking there is no right way or wrong way. The democrats/republicans didn’t create this mess and the democrats/republicans cannot get us out with their policies. I am not saying that both sides are saying the same thing, nor am I saying that it doesn’t matter. I am saying that each “side” has something to bring to the table and if we could just learn to listen to and value the thoughts that each side presents, we would be able to live together more peaceably.
One huge obstacle to listening to one another is an irrational belief that if we hear and acknowlege someone, we are somehow sanctioning their thoughts. I want shout out loud, that it is a lie. The most powerful tool we have for coming together as a nation is to listen to people we do not agree with and reflect back to them what they believe so that they feel heard. That alone can create an atmosphere in which we can present our side of the disagreement… disagreeing agreeably… or as Stephen Covey put it, “Seek first to understand, then to be understood”. This is one of the most powerful tools for communication and collaboration that we have… and we are afraid of it.
Disenfranchisement
This might sound strange coming from a middle aged, middle class white guy, but I feel marginalized by the lack of dialog. I don’t know of any better system of government, but at the same time, I didn’t have a voice in determining the candidates we are voting for. At the same time, I cannot imagine how it could be done better. I almost erased this paragraph because I don’t have a solution. This feeling of being marginalized or disenfranchised may be completely irrational… but it is what I feel… so it stays. I hear lots of people saying that they aren’t happy with either choice. I guess that could be sour grapes, but it could be a feeling that we are stuck with two candidates and neither side represents our individual desires for government very well.
Repeated History
I frequently hear the cliche, “If we don’t learn from history we are doomed to repeat it.” I think that statement only works in hindsight. History is too complex to really be repeated a la Ground Hog Day. In retrospect, we can always see patterns of repeated history that we had we recognized, it would have prevented some repeated historical problem. It’s not the same though. It never is.
Each of us sees things differently. If each of us has a voice, we can evaluate things along the way from a much greater perspective. Remember the Indian tale of the blind men and the elephant. “It’s like a rope.” “No, it is like a wall.” “You are both wrong. It is like a tree trunk.” Most of the time, it is not about right and wrong. Most of the time, it is truly about perspective.
Fun
Doesn’t Tina Fey make a great Sarah Palin? I’m kicking myself this morning because I forgot to record SNL last night. DOH!
World Views
While I think that as a country we need to take the right actions for the right reasons, I also believe it matters very much what the rest of the world thinks of us. As Thomas Friedman describes in The World is Flat, we are living in a global economy. Whether we like it or not, we are no longer an isolated world power that gets to dictate to the rest of the world how things are going to be. I believe that protectionist measures that are founded on a desire to keep things the way they have always been are dangerous. We are not repeating history. The rules are changing and we need to stay in the game. The stakes are too high for us to shut off from the rest of the world, or worse engage with the world solely through acts of war. We must pursue peace… not peace at any cost, but neither peace on our terms alone. We must negotiate from a position of strength, but one of compassion by choice.
Who am I voting for? Wouldn’t you like to know!
Update – Do we really learn from history? Check out the facts below…
October 14, 2008
Blog Action Day – Poverty
I promised the folks at Blog Action Central that I would write about Poverty today. The idea is invite bloggers to all write on an important topic in order to influence the conversations that we have today with family, friends, co-workers… Most of the time we talk about the weather, politics, the economy and other things outside our circle of influence. Today, let’s talk about poverty.
At the beginning of this year, I set some goals for myself, one of which was to
Move my spiritual journey from one of “learning about” to intentionally expressing God’s love in a tangible way to people who are in need. (hurting (everyone), poor, hungry, homeless…)
Even as I read that statement, I am stirred. What does it mean when your own words stir your heart 10 months later? One of the biggest lessons of my year is around humility in my beliefs. I want to hold my faith with open hands up to God and declare, “I don’t have all the answers. I don’t believe the same things I believed 30 years ago. I don’t even believe the same things I believed 10 years ago. I am constantly changing, learning, adapting and I won’t believe the same things in 10 years that I believe now. With that in mind, I pray God to help me have a humble heart that values the thoughts, beliefs and feelings of others. Help me to see your thumbprint in everyone.”
This year has been one in which I am intentionally moving my focus from my intellectual beliefs to actually doing more of what God is calling me to. Moving from talk to action. you might say that I am adding more orthopraxy to my orthodoxy. With that goal, the Justice Project has truly captured my heart; “a yearly comprehensive service initiative, where we invite a diverse collection of churches, organizations, & individuals to help us make a change for good in an inner-city community through selfless service, radical hospitality, & a message of God’s love & ability to transform the human heart.” I can hardly tell you how excited I am about what is going on here. I am such a small part of it with such a huge desire to be more involved. Folks from all over Charlotte have joined together to help folks in just one inner city neighborhood. It’s a grass roots organization with little funding and the intention to remain that way. It is relational from the ground up. The focus is on building relationships with the community in Villa Heights as we serve them and partner with them to promote positive change in their community. It’s about building relationships within the helper groups as well as those who have needs.
When I think about poverty (like any other problem), my troubleshooting skills take over. Let’s solve this problem once an for all! I begin to consider the causes of poverty, but to find a solution, not just to blame. The problem overwhelms me. Part of me would like to explain away why it cannot be solved then walk away having appeased my own conscience. H. L. Menken said, “There is always an easy solution to every problem – neat, plausible, and wrong.” There is no easy answer… and I fear that many “easy answers” exacerbate the problem. I could be oversimplifying things by saying so, but I believe that the solution begins in Jesus’ answer when someone asked him what the greatest commandment was. He replied that nothing is more important than loving God and loving our neighbor. Oversimplified or not, that’s where I am focusing my efforts.
Anyone want to join me in Villa Heights this Saturday?
September 21, 2008
Mini Family Reunion – End of Day 4
The last day
This morning I learned what a second degree burn looks like… and feels like. We began the day with a hearty Hardees breakfast. We were squeezed into a little booth and I was on the inside. About the time I sat down, Debbie got up for something and I decided to make a dash for some hot sauce or mustard to spice up my chicken biscuit. When I got back to the table, I sat down to scoot over and knocked Debbie’s hot coffee over into my lap. My lap felt like it was on fire, which I was trying desperately to escape. The booth was such a tight squeeze that I couldn’t easily get out and the coffee was burning! It seemed to keep pouring in s l o w motion. After I jumped out of the booth holding my soaked shorts up off of my knee, I kept saying I was ok. It didn’t hurt.
Aunt Judy looked at my leg and said, “No you aren’t ok, you skin is peeling off!” Dr. Harry calmly led me to the bathroom where I splashed cold water on my leg for a few minutes. One of the Hardees employees was also a nurse and brought some anticiptic spray. With Dr. Harry’s ok, I accepted it. It was great to have a doctor in our company.
It stings to the touch now, but I have successfully avoided touching it much so far. Tomorrow is a regular “long pants” work day, which should be fun. Not the best way to end our time together, but it was certainly not the worst way either!
Final Thoughts
I am so thankful to have had this time of reconnection. To be with mom as she relived so many childhood memories, to see the places I’ve heard her speak about so many times over the years… To hear the stories that Aunt Judy remembered from her trips to Alabama after they moved to Charleston. Our family stories are full of tragedy and comedy for sure. It will take a lifetime to process all that I learned.
This weekend will be a memory that I will cherish as long as I live. I am thankful to Mom for inviting me and to Aunt Judy for driving her as well as driving us all around the country. Thanks also to all the family in AL for putting up with us. I am especially thankful to Harry for coming up with the idea and initiating everything.
September 20, 2008
Mini Family Reunion – End of Day 3
Quick Highlights from the day
Especially because it has been a long day and we’ve seen, told and heard an awful lot today. Todays new Characters are:
- Everett Stidger – My first cousin, once removed – Son of Eldon Stidger who was my mother’s mother’s brother
- Sue Stidger -Everett’s wife
- Kari Stidger -My second cousin – Daughter of Everett and Sue
- Laurie Lorance – My first cousin -Daughter of my mother’s brother, Jack (sister of Debbie and Linda)
- Tre Lorance – My first cousin once removed… in the other direction – He’s Laurie’s son
Today, we invested a couple of hours at Everett and Sue’s house. They had a huge box of family photos for us to go through. The funny thing about genealogy is that no one other than your siblings has the exact same interests as you, but there are many intersections. When you start trading information; stories, photos etc. you find out that they have a lot of stuff you just don’t care about. Such was the case today. They had some real good photo finds for us, but we had to wade through hundreds that just didn’t matter… to us.
After Everett’s, we drove out in the country hoping to be able to find some places that my mom and her family lived when she was a youngster. We found two places that brought back floods of memories for her and my Aunt Judy. Lots of questions and stories along the way too. It’s going to take years to assimilate all that I experienced today.
First search was for their home in Sommerville, AL. We drove all the way into town, through town and back out of town with no sign of the courthouse, which was our big landmark. Turned around and drove back into town, more slowly this time. Going on mom’s instincts, we turned on a certain road and there was the courthouse where she and her siblings went to school. Right across the highway was the area where her house was. She started telling stories one after another. I was so glad to get them all recorded.
We left there to go off in the country to find the place they lived when my Aunt Judy was born. Once again, her memory proved to be exceptional. We saw the place where there house was and the cotton fields, the creek where they played as children. It was magical for me. I know it must have been over the top for mom.
After that, we headed down the road looking for a church that they had attended some time after that when they had moved a few miles away. We found the church and mom determined that her house had to have been just up the road. We drove slowly looking for a chimney because this house had burned down while they were living there. We turned into a driveway and slowly made our way. Looking off in a field, I saw what looked like some old masonary, so we decided that this must have been that house.
Leaving that area, we headed back to my Aunt Jan’s to meet Laurie and Tre. It was great to spend some time getting to know them. Tre took Harry and me on a tour of the house and the yard. We looked at everything there was to see. While we were there, I was remembering my Uncle Jack and some of the tricks he would play with me when I was a youngster. I thought of the little trick that included a story about two little blackbirds named Jack and Jim. As I played it with Tre, he was just as bewildered at how the trick worked as I had been at his age. Everything comes full circle, doesn’t it?
My favorite parts of this trip has been reconnecting with my living family. It was great to spend so much time with Mom, Judy, Debbie and Harry. It was wonderful to get together with all the others too. The stories that we shared with one another was worth everything and more. I heard some of the funniest and most tragic stories imaginable. These are not only the stories of my ancestors. They are the stories of my life too. I look forward to reflecting on these stories over the days, weeks, months and years ahead. First though, I have to drive back to Charlotte… and that’s tomorrow! Gotta get some sleep now.
September 19, 2008
Mini Family Reunion – End of Day 2
Highlights from our day
Here we are… the foursome who dropped in on an unsuspecting Alabama. (Jim, Mlou, Harry, Judy)
In keeping with yesterday’s post, these are the new players from today:
- Jan – My aunt – Married my mom’s brother Jack
- Debbie – Jan’s daughter and my cousin
- Linda – Jan’s daughter and my cousin
- Rena & Ray Obarr – Rena is my 1st cousin once removed – She is the daughter of my grandfather “Pop” Lawrence’s sister
- Patsy Lamme – Rena’s sister and also my 1st cousin once removed
- Beverly & Lewis Smith – Beverly is my 1st cousin – Daughter of my mom’s sister Louise
We started our day with a visit to Aunt Jan and Debbie. This is a photo of Jim, Debbie and Harry (standing) and Mom and Aunt Jan in front.
We left Jan’s and headed out to visit family and a cemetary (I guess they are both technically family visits). First visit was to Ray and Rena’s house. We asked them if they had any family photos and they said they didn’t. They said that Rena’s sisters; Patsy and Shelby had taken them. After Judy pressed a bit harder, they pulled some out. Admittedly not the best stash, but their were some that we might never have seen. One was a photo of my parents that I had never seen before. It was taken when they were either dating or newlyweds.
Mom, Harry, Rena, Debbie, Jim, Ray
We left Rena’s and stopped off at the Hough Cemetary where some of my mom’s mother’s family is buried. Their last name was Stidger. The family name was changed from the original German, Stitcher name. Presumably, the family occupation at some point was stitching cloth.
After Hough Cemetary, we headed just around the corner to Patsy’s house. We visited with her and her friendly little pooch. Patsy claimed to have no photos. Unlike Rena, she held firm when pressed by Aunt Judy. She gave all of hers to Shelby. One day I’m going to have to visit Shelby with my trusty scanner. Patsy and Judy had some pretty revealing stories about their teenaged exploits. I wonder what the statute of limitations is for starting a forest fire…
Debbie and Pat
We found my cousin Beverly at home with hubby, Lewis. I had never met Lewis before. They had some great stories of their sons, Chris & Michael. Michael is a missionary in China. You can sure see the pride they have in him.
Beverly and Lewis
We hoped to play a trick on my cousin, Linda. Linda works for a check cashing company and the plan went something like this. Harry and I were going to burst into the business. I was to be an impatient caretaker of Harry who was slow like Rainman. I was going to open the door and fuss at him saying that we needed to get some money for the fair (which was right next door). The joke was on us. Thinking they closed at 5:30, we arrived about 5:25, but it was closed at 5:00. Rats!
We found a nice local restaurant (Three Guys Grill) to refill with some much needed nourishment and headed back to the hotel to scan the photos we borrowed from Rena. While visiting and scanning, Linda came by to say hello. Here’s a photo of all the 1st cousins who were present.
Debbie, Harry, Linda and Jim
It has been a good, long, full day. I couldn’t be more thankful… or more tired. Good night!
Mini Family Reunion
This morinig, I am in Arab, Alabama celebrating an impromptu mini family reunion. Before I left, I set my Facebook status to “on my way to a mini family reunion.” My friend, Robert posted this comment, “I thought only dwarves could have mini family reunions.” I miss working with Robert. What a sense of humor… I digress. My cousin Harry, who lives in San Diego, called my mom in Summerville, SC and her sister Judy in the DC area and asked if they would meet him in Alabama to teach him about our family history from this area. Mom invited me to come along and here we are. I am going to try to write about the trip as we go and I will introduce the people who join us as we meet them.
- Mary – My Mom – lives in Summerville, SC
- Judy – My Mom’s sister- Lives in VA near Washington, DC. Her husband, John is a retired Navy Admiral.
- Harry – Son of my mom’s sister, Bonnie, who died in 1989 – A navy doctor stationed in San Diego. He just returned from a deployment to Afghanistan.
- Me – the rest of this blog is devoted to defining who I am
I drove from Charlotte to Atlanta and stayed the night with Jeanie’s mom Wednesday night and came the rest of the way yesterday. When I arrived, Mom, Judy and I talked about what we wanted to get from this trip. In essence, what was our vision for the trip. It was good to hear that we were mostly here for the same things, to
- Reconnect with family who lives here
- Reconnect with our family history
- Reconnect with each other
Until I typed that list, I didn’t realize how much this is a time of reconnection. We had some great times yesterday telling family stories from the distant past and some more recent stories. I love listening to these stories, but I also realize that I have a terrible memory. My solution was to bring along a recorder to have an audio recording of these stories. Maybe one day I can transcribe the stories for myself and my family.
While I was out jogging this morning, I was wondering how this town got the name Arab. It is nothing like I would imagine Arabia to be. Wikipedia helped:
The name of the town is pronounced “AA-rab” and was an unintentional misspelling by the US Postal Service, in 1882, of the city’s intended name, taken from Arad Thompson, the son of the founder Stephen Tuttle Thompson.
Not nearly as interesting a story as I’d hoped, but it’s a story. So many things are the way they are because of mistakes along the way… and we all contribute to them.
Everyone is ready to go. More later
September 11, 2008
The Day of the Office Chair
It was just another day in my geeky programmer life. I got up and rode my bicycle to work. At that time, my work location was such that I could ride the 4 miles to work without riding on any streets. When I arrived, my boss asked me if I wanted a nice office chair for free. I must have had a look of bewilderment on my face because he began to explain. “You see, I got this nice chair a while back, but my wife doesn’t like it. You can have it if you want it. It’s in the trunk of my car.” I said, “sure.” So we went to his car and drove out to my house to drop off the chair. I am sitting in the chair as I type this.
Along the way, we chatted about this and that… nothing important. When arrived back at the office, the guards in the lobby were all looking at a small TV screen and talking about something that had captured their attention. They said a plane had flown into a buildng in NY. I dismissed it thinking that was a strange accident and how silly it was that folks got so engrossed in something just because it was unusual. It didn’t have anything to do with me, for sure. As we entered the workplace, I noticed that folks were huddled in little groups. Someone had a little black and white TV and several were gathered around it. By this time they were saying that a second plane had flown into a building. My first thought was that this was no accident. My interest was piqued.
I tried to find something on the internet news sites, but they were all jammed up and unresponsive. So I thought I would try one of the newsgroups since most people didn’t know what they were, I expected them to be accessible. They were accessible and a flurry of activity. I began reading the news and opinions about what happened, whether it was really an attack and by whom. I was taking everything with a huge grain of salt because of the nature of an unmoderated newsgroup and then I saw a post from someone saying that the pentagon had been hit. I thought to myself that the alarmist crazys had taken over the newsgroup and decided that it wasn’t reliable enough to be worth reading. I returned to my work.
Somehow, I got news that they Pentagon part was true and that it was definitely some sort of attack, but I continued to emmerse myself in my work. Jeanie was was sleeping in. She had been up the wee hours of the morning delivering newspapers and had returned to bed. She woke to the local talk radio station going on about the events assuming that all of its readers understood the context. She was completely in the dark about the events. She called me to find out what in the world was going on. An hour or two later, I got an email telling me to go home due to the events of the morning. I had an appointment to give blood that day and my first thought was that I should keep that appointment because they were going to need blood, so I went to the collection location, but it was deserted. So I went home.
I remember feeling shell shocked. It wasn’t long before I had seen enough of the news on TV. The repeated images and the incessant talk about the same thing over and over was getting to me. I needed a diversion. A few weeks earlier, I had started a project to create two large natural areas in the front yard. So I methodically walked to the garage, picked up my tools and started mindlessly raking and digging.
Seven years have passed. The natural area is part of the yard now and looks pretty nice, I think. It was several months before I gave blood again. There was such an outpouring of donations from folks who wanted to be a part that I thought (correctly) the Red Cross wouldn’t be able to handle it all. After donations started to drop off again, I began donating again regularly (and I still do). The office chair still holds my butt up off the floor. The world is upside down from the repercussions of the events of that day, September 11, 2001. My heart still aches for those who lost loved ones. I still love hearing the stories of what folks remember about that day.
Thanks to my “Dull Geek ” friend. His story prompted me to write my story.
Jimazing Thoughts 