9/11--Six years later, another Tuesday

On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, I had the day off of work to go on a field trip to The Maize at the Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island, with my youngest daughter, Selita. It was a very clear day (much like today, by the way), but I turned on the TV to watch the Weather Channel to get the forecast. They had a scrolling headline announcing that a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers. My first thought was that it was some kind of freak accident. I changed over to CNN to watch the coverage about the time the second tower was struck--and I immediately thought of Al Qaeda. I was glued to the TV until we had to leave for the school to start the field trip. While out on the island, a couple of fighter jets flew over, and Selita asked me if they were good planes or bad planes.

That evening, I was teaching a database class at the University of Phoenix. One of my students worked for Boeing in Gresham. He was very shook up, seeing their planes turned into guided missiles.

We lived in the flight path for Portland International Airport, and were used to seeing planes frequently out our front window. It was strange to have none in the sky for several days.

My heart still goes out to the heroic firefighters and policemen that risked--and lost--their lives to rescue others. This video still brings tears to my eyes (words).

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:13.