And I Think to Myself.....What a Wonderful World: Civic Duty Calls and Other Ways We Spent 9-11-2008

I woke up this morning thinking about 9-11 and had a hard time shaking my thoughts. I have visited the empty hole in NYC that housed the World Trade Center. It was eerily quiet and is forever etched in my mind. I had to close my eyes for a few minutes just to find a way to bear some of the pain that I felt for those families. This morning was no different....I had to close my eyes when I thought about those families and those babies who lost their mommas and daddies that day.

Seven years ago today, Ashley (my good friend from Marianna that I miss so much) and I were headed to work in Helena. She lived in Forrest City at the time, so I would pick her up on the way and we would make that long drive almost every morning. I will never forget Ashley telling me to be quiet and her saying, "Wait, why is Katie Couric on FM100?). Once we got to work, we watched TV in an empty patient room at Helena Regional Hospital which was across the parking lot from where we worked at the Delta AHEC. Our boss wanted us to get back to work and all I wanted to do was to go home and get John and all of my animals and lock us in the house together. Somehow, we would be safe that way! I was thinking that this might be the end of the world and that somehow, the entire universe would be terrorized. I kept calling John and he was so busy working and would tell me not to worry and that he had to get back to work. I will never forget that day.

I was asked a few weeks ago to judge a beauty contest at Crestpark (one of Wynne's nursing homes) that was scheduled for tonight. Another civic duty called, and I begrudgingly agreed. I couldn't imagine how this would go and really was not looking forward to it. Mom came and stayed at the house while Julia took her nap and I headed that way. There were tons of families there and it was a little bizarre at first to see these women dressed in their best clothes. However, I quickly got into the spirit and realized that this was a really fun way to celebrate these ladies and the lives that they have lived. We laughed so hard and had a great time. They put on quite a show and the hardest part was choosing the winners. I couldn't help but tear up several times after seeing these ladies, so poised and beautiful, being interviewed. They answered the question about Who was their favorite famous person by saying things like----their late husband who took such good care of them and their children. Wow.....a great way to spend a couple of hours on 9-11. It definitely made me stop and be grateful for all that I have in my own life.

Last year's queen crowning the new Crestpark 2008 queen!