Five years ago I called Vicki to tell her to turn on the TV. I heard the news while at work. While we were on the phone Vicki saw the second plane. She called back after the Pentagon was hit. It was after the fourth plane crashed that I got a chance to see the horror for myself on a TV. Like those of you who remember the day Pearl Harbor was attacked or when JFK was assassinated, the events of 9/11 and what I was doing will forever be etched in my memory. While I don’t know anyone who was personally affected by the attacks that day my heart still hurts for those victims. But to me the deeper tragedy is that the hatred that drives things like this seems to still be alive and well. With this in mind I write in the spirit of keeping on with life, refusing to be cowed into defeat.
CATARACT SURGERY. Aunt Mar had cataract surgery on her left eye almost two years ago. Her right eye was done Thursday. She is doing well with it. As we were talking about how well Aunt Mar’s surgery went Mom remembered her uncle, Joe Denning, who had undergone the surgery when it was a new procedure. In that day they weren’t doing it in Nashville and he had to travel to Lexington, Kentucky. After his surgery was over he had to lay in bed with his head completely immobilized for many days. Things sure have come a long way.
GRANDPARENTS’ DAY. East Robertson Elementary had another huge Grandparents’ Day celebration on Friday. They served about 500 grandparents for lunch. Vicki is once again one of the PTO Volunteer Coordinators. She was blessed and tired by the end of the day. Mom and Pauline went to eat with Ben and see his classroom. They visited Jenna’s classroom too, and Mom accompanied her to lunch when it was third grade’s turn to eat.
WORDS THAT MAKE GRANDMAS MELT. Friday night it was Nate’s turn to spend the night with Mom and Aunt Mar. I went over on Saturday to pick him up. After eating some chicken salad sandwiches for lunch we left. As Nate was walking to the truck Mom called out, “Good-bye Nate. We had fun with you. You’re a sweet boy.” At this he turned around and said, “You sweet girls!” He told them they were sweet girls again today when we went to take off their trash.
GOOD CHARACTER. East Robertson participates in the Character Counts program. The other day Ben saw a little girl land really hard coming off the slide during recess and went over to see about her. Mrs. Linda saw him in his moment of empathy and awarded him a Character Counts coupon. He is the first in his class to receive one. We’re proud of our character.
A FUN WEEKEND. Our choir at church will be performing a musical next month and they had a retreat last weekend to concentrate on the music. They went to Coldstream Christian Camp in Cedar Hill (on the other end of the county). Vicki spent the night Friday. From the sound of it they all had a great time together.
SPEAKING OF MUSIC. One night Vicki went upstairs to help Jenna practice her piano. It was late and Jenna had had a long day which made her fingers not want to cooperate. At one point I heard her tired, exasperated voice exclaim, “Oh Lord, help me!” This prayerful utterance made Vicki realize she was pushing Jenna a bit too hard that evening.
A BOOK REVIEW. I have been reading a good book lately. Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land through the Five Books of Moses by Bruce Feiler has been quite fascinating. Feiler grew up in Savannah, Georgia, and has a Jewish background. It has been interesting to read not only of his 10,000 mile trek across the Middle East but also his spiritual journey as he has begun to explore what he believes about God. He does a great job of not only describing the places he visited on his trip but also explaining aspects of culture, history and life there. If you’re like me and can’t visit these places yourself this book comes recommended.
Joe
