Six Years Later

(I took this photo in May 2000 when I took Jim, Genise and Chris to New Jersey and New York to visit. I didn't take them to the towers, figuring we'd see them the next time.)


Today we again remember that Tuesday morning. Where we were, what we thought about as we heard the news. How we felt as we began to realize this was no accident.


But today we also think about where we are now. That unity of a nation, that was so strong in the dust of those towers, seems to weak right now. Do we need daily to see those towers falling, hear the stories of heroes and of cowards and see the list of names to never forget what was done to us?


Maybe so. As a Christian, it's easy for me to forget what I've done to God. And sometimes I think I do need daily reminders or the damage I do, and of the Hero who has rescued me from the falling life I was in. I don't ever want to forget the sacrifices made by Christ for me; and I don't ever want to forget the sacrifices made by so many Americans on Sept. 11, 2001.

(Taken last December when Jimmy, the kids, Amber and I went into Manhattan. The rebuilding is inspirational. It is not Ground Zero anymore. It is the World Trade Center. Nearby is a memorial museum with some amazing things to see. )

(Photographs of people who were never recovered.)

(This display records two very powerful statements:)
"These acts shattered steel but they can't bend of the steel of American resolve." President George W. Bush

"On that terrible, a nation became a neighborhood, and all Americans became New Yorkers." Governor George Pataki

These last images are photos of postcards available for purchase there.


1) The jacket of firefighter Jonathan Ielpi recovered from Ground Zero;
2) A piece of shatterproof glass recovered from Ground Zero;
3) A handgun recovered from Ground Zero, damaged in the collapse and melted in the fires that burned for weeks;
4) A flag recovered from Ground Zero

Sanders Star Students

Today, both of my kids were in school.

It was strange, taking Cooper to Park St. at 8 a.m. It's 'B' week and today was Bubble Day, so he went today instead of his usual Tuesday. His dad left his backpack at home so we had to back later and drop it off. More about that later.

After that we took Abby to school. I walked her in to remind her teacher that starting today Emma, the daughter of our friends Jeff and Jill, would be getting Abby after school. It seemed a bad day for kindergartners. Of the 60-something kids there, I think 20 were crying or had been. Thankfully, Abby wasn't one of them.Jimmy and I went back home and went back to sleep for a while.

After our nap, I went to the bank by myself, dropped some papers of at her school by myself, visited my friend at her coffee shop by myself, and then - went to Walmart by myself. It was nice. It reminded me of the first days Abby was in preschool in Searcy. I remember one day going to Walmart and feeling like something was missing. Like I left something at home that should be with me. Of course, at that point I was 8 months pregnant with Cooper, so I wasn't totally by myself!

I had a project I wanted to get done. I bought a magnetic dry erase board to display special papers they bring home, and to write down things we need to remember for school. It's hung in our mudroom above the hooks for their back-packs.

Jimmy asked if we could keep a shopping list there, and I explained to him again that it was for school paperwork, and projects and reminders. It was there by their back-packs, by the back door, so we wouldn't forget the backpacks. It was a "school-stuff station." His reply was, "Wow. I didn't realize I had married Martha Stuart."

Speaking of which. Have you seen the goth-Martha Stuart on the cover of her magazine. Yikes.