Saints Notes      September 8, 2011

It's one of those moments that sears into your brain like a notch in a doorframe marking how tell your child is on their birthday.

Since I was just two months old when President Kennedy was shot - that's not one of those days for me - although my mom tells me I cried.  Although, since I was bit of a colicky kid, I cried a lot anyway.

The day of the Challenger disaster, I was working at KJJC radio as news director and was checking the Associate Press Wire as bells started ringing and the horrible news started to print.  It was later that day I saw the images of the Shuttle breaking up, but the moments of reading the news and sharing it with our audience is something I won't forget.

September 11, 2001 - my wife and I went to the Title Office to sign the papers to refinance our mortgage early in the morning (we were living in Wisconsin in the Central Time Zone) and while there the woman taking care of the paperwork had to make a call about quarter to 8 in the morning.  

While she was on that phone call - we heard her say, 'What!' and then she told us about a plane flying into one of the World Trade Center Towers.  Like everyone else in America, and the world, we were shocked and confused and stunned.  It was clear that something was going on... we decided at that point it made more sense to delay singing the papers and instead come back later to take care of those details.

So we headed back to our small town and stopped by the school to check on our kids (the school was allowing parents to take their kids out of school if they wished).

Both boys were playing on a middle school football team and while I'm sure some folks thought about cancelling it... the game went on as scheduled.  So, late that afternoon - we drove the boys and watched their two games.  All any of us could talk about in the bleachers were the day's events and what it might mean.

The most immediate impact we saw as we drove home from the game.   Long lines at each gas station as folks rushed to fill their gas tanks before the prices sky-rocketed or the gas ran out.  Tempers were high as nerves became frayed.

The other long-lasting memory for me in the days after 9-11-01 were the skies.  With all air travel grounded, there were no contrails left behind by jets criss-crossing the sky and it seemed that the blue sky was a little brighter than normal.

For several weeks and even stretching into a few months - people came together in larger numbers in churches and found a renewed sense of wanting to help their fellow man.

It's a time I'll never forget, be sure to share your story and keep in mind that today's high school seniors were second graders that morning.