A fall on the ice

Christmas Day in Elkton, VA is usually rather hectic- running from house to house as we try to see every blood relative. In the mountains of western VA, people rarely move out of the area, so just about everyone is somehow related.

It was about 2pm when we arrived at Grandma's house. As the rain settled in, I tried to run into the house to avoid getting wet. As I ran up the walk, I noted that it was a new pressed cement that had been given a 'natural chiseled look' and much to my dismay, cleverly camoflauged a layer of ice.

I never even made it up the first step- my feet shot out from under me, my butt hit the bricks and then my head hit the corner of the steps. Instant pain and then anger- this could have been prevented! Brandon loaded me back into the car and my sister-in-law came along for the ride to the ER which was 20 min away. Being in the country, it is faster to go yourself then wait for the 'squad' (as they call) then get to the hospital.

I was greeted at the door by the tirage nurse who asked a liteny of questions. I was wisked to the back and evaluated by doctors and nurses. After they saw the bleeding had slowed- the pace turned back to the routine 'hurry-up, take your time' pace that ERs typically go through.

After a clean CT scan and 3 staples in my head, I was handed a steril 'staple remover' which I was happy to note looked nothing like the King Cobra teeth I have in my desk at work. More like baby spoons....nothing like dull metal to remove these staples- I'm nervous about the removal.

The next day I wasn't sore, except for my butt where I landed on the bricks. It looks like a perfect impression of the bricks I landed on. You can see where one brick ends, where the mortar is, and where the next brick begins. Almost as if I took a rubbing of the bricks.

911 Memorial Dedication Ceremony 9/11/2008

I attended the Pentagon Memorial Ceremony the morning of 9/11/2008. When 9-11 occurred, I was working in Crystal City, Virginia as I do now. I wasn’t 1 mile from the Pentagon when it was hit. For those of us that were in the Capitol Region, we all remember the terror and feeling of panic as we slowly inched our way home in the gridlock.

As I drove into work this morning, I took my normal route up 395 North right by the Pentagon with the Capitol and Washington Monument in the distance. I came in early in anticipation of heaver than normal congestion. As I neared the Pentagon, the sun was just beginning to shine a red glow above the Potomac River, and there I saw a large American Flag draped over the Pentagon as it was several days after 9-11. Large stadium lights were shining on the flag, though they were purple in color, vs. a blinding white light.

It was a cool cloud covered morning as I walked over to the Pentagon from my office. At the Pentagon they had bleachers and plenty of seating available. I had a great view high in the bleachers of the side of the Pentagon that was hit, the memorial itself, the Ceremony, and the incoming passenger aircraft into Regan-Nat’l airport. During the Ceremony, various military bands played music and sang songs. A local 5^th grade chorus group sang several songs (they were toddlers when 9-11 happened). As these children sang, sunbeams filtered through the clouds and touched DC in the distance; the timing couldn’t have been better.

Each name of the 184 victims was read and their photograph was displayed for all to see. After each name was read, a bell rang in their remembrance. If any of the victims were related, it was mentioned. The one that struck me the most was a family of four who was coming to visit DC. The mother, father, and two daughters who were not more than 12 yrs old were on flight 77. Another victim was a 10 yr old boy from DC. He was handpicked by his teacher to attend a geography field trip in California and was returning home.

As they began the actual dedication portion of the ceremony, the clouds parted just over the Pentagon. The single patch of blue sky allowed warm sunlight to illuminate the massive building, the memorial and the participants. President George W. Bush spoke with the memorial of 184 benches in the background. Each of the branches of the US Military was represented by a person in dress uniform standing at each of the benches. The benches representing the 59 lives lost on Flight 77 are positioned so that a visitor will face the sky when reading a name of the victim; and when reading a name from a victim from the Pentagon, you will see the victim’s name with the Pentagon in the same view. As President Bush walked over to the memorial, only the brass buttons, buckles, medals and awards of the military personnel standing as well as the benches themselves sparkled in the filtered sunlight that shown just over the Pentagon. The sparkling metal of our military heroes and of the benches of those who fell victim that dreadful day, to me represents our interconnected lives. If it weren’t for our military personnel protecting the rest of us, there would be more victims today. Daily suicide-bombings and attacks on government and policing agencies are the norm in some countries; our military continues to strive to keep violence and disorder away from American soil.

Even though I did not know any one who lost their lives on 9-11; the ceremony brought tears to my eyes as I imagined their horror the victims experienced when they realized that their fate was in malicious hands. I was also saddened to think of how the victim's families have been forever changed. In some ways, the family of four who was on that flight was blessed. I certainly wouldn't want to continue-on with out my family.

We will remain the land of the free only as long as we remain the home of the brave.