30 Days of Gratitude - Day 14

 Day 14 – November 14 – “Give thanks for your home.”

My home is something I am VERY thankful for.

This house is where I raised my sons, and where several other guys spent a big part of their childhood. There are so many memories here – both good and bad, if I’m perfectly honest. The good far outweigh the bad, though.

Aside from many years of warm, happy Christmases, there were also many fun Easters.

I cooked Easter dinner every year until about 2002.  After dinner, all the boys here hunted Easter eggs in the back yard. The plastic eggs had numbers inside them, and each number corresponded to a small gift, such as bubbles, matchbox cars, slinkys, and books. Three numbers always meant $20, $10 and $5. The year Mark was 22, his friend Josh said they were too old to hunt Easter eggs, but I said no eggs, no dinner.  He said, “Where is my basket?”

It turned out that was the last year they had the Easter eggs, but that year they had more fun with the little people toys than ever before – all of them in the yard blowing bubbles, playing whiffle ball, and feeding the birds.

My basement birthed many bands, some of which are still together and performing, and two are still practicing down there sometimes.

The house has stayed together thanks to many, many friends who have contributed talent, skill, and money. It needs work now, but I’m sure it will hold together until I’m gone.

I could have done things differently, some better, but some I did just right. My only REAL regret is selling the back lot to people who made my yard very dangerous and then built the ugliest house in the neighborhood about 50 feet from my bedroom window. That wouldn’t be so bad, except they took down my 30-year-old red maples and the flowering trees that we planted back in 1992.  I still keep the picture of those trees, because it makes me very happy.

    

But I still am very thankful for my home, and the memories it holds.

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 13

 Day 13 – November 13 – “Give thanks for your family. Be intentional today about encouraging one or several of your family members.”

I thank God EVERY DAY for my family.

So today I called my oldest living relative, Ruth. She is my dad’s first cousin, making her my second cousin, and she is 94 years old.

What an amazing woman! She still drives, and before COVID hit, she was line-dancing at the Senior Center every week and attending church every Sunday. She has a beautiful little garden home, and smokes 3-4 cigarettes a day out on her back patio.

But Ruth lives in about 1980. She has no computer and no cell phone. She does have a color TV, and spends her day reading and working crossword puzzles.

After COVID hit, and she couldn’t go to church anymore, someone brought her a CD player, and brings her a CD of her church’s weekly service.

I did send her a couple of masks several months ago.

She has survived the death of her husband of 50+ years, and the death of her older son (Bill, who weighed over 600 pounds). Her younger son, Tom, has been ill for years, but lives within an hour’s drive, so she drives over to visit him every couple of weeks. Tom is now bedbound and “can’t stay awake” more than a few minutes. Ruth still enjoys sitting with him.

So today I called Ruth. I wish I could hug her.

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 12

 Day 12 - November 12 - "Give thanks for your talents".

I do. I wish I hadn't ignored some of them for 30 years, so that now they're about gone.

But we do what we do, and for reasons others can't understand.

We can't change the past. We don't know the future.

We have only the present. It's our GIFT.

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 11

 Day 11 - November 11 Veterans Day - "Name a veteran that you're grateful for. Call, text, or write them a letter today thanking them for their service."

Today I identified 124 veterans I am particularly grateful for, and who have been instrumental in helping other veterans for years. All of them are active in one or more veterans service organizations (VSOs) that spend all year every year identifying veterans who are struggling and helping them, sponsoring programs for youth such as Boys State, Girls State, Boy Scouts, Legion Baseball, myriad scholarship opportunities for veterans' children, presenting counseling for veterans, doing PTSD and Moral Injury groups, helping the V.A. with things the government doesn't provide, like socks, blankets, programs at the National Cemetery (flags for Veterans Day and wreaths for Wreaths Across America), visiting other veterans (especially WWII and Korea War veterans) and providing transportation for veterans who have no way to get to appointments.

The assignment was to write them. So I put the 124 into 10 different categories of things they do, and wrote them all an email.

Thank you for all you do for our country!

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 10

 Day 10 - November 10 - "Give thanks for someone who encouraged you."

Pastor Malinda, This assignment gets harder and harder! So many people have encouraged me over the years that I don't even know where to start!

Beginning with my grandmother, who encouraged me to be kind, and who assured me I was smart and beautiful. She is the one who, when I lost my baby teeth, and my hair was stringy and straight, again said that "pretty is as pretty does" and "beauty is only skin deep. It's your character that matters".

When I got to high school, David Littleton encouraged me to learn to play the cello, but he also urged... no, actually pushed me into debate, orchestra, and reading "lurid literature"... introduced me to "Lady Chatterly's Lover".

Randy Marsh encouraged me to finish college, and Susan Hill encouraged me to write and to finish graduate school.

All my early mentors who encouraged me are deceased now.

Maybe one or more of them is/are still looking down at me and maybe even one of them is my guardian angel.

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 9

 Day 9 – November 9 – “Name a child that you’re grateful for. How do you imagine they’ll make the world a better place?’

Another hard one for me, because I’m not around children much. I have no grandchildren, so I go weeks on end without even SEEING a child, and usually only when I actually (used to) GO to church.

Ahhhhh! CHURCH!

Rose Weaver! She is about 8 now… in the 3^rd grade this Fall. I probably have more contact with her than any other child I know. But not because of ME. Because of HER.

I won’t go into how beautiful she is, with her gorgeous red hair and her sweet smile, because all that beauty pales in comparison to her unconditional love for everyone she meets. “Everyone she meets” includes anyone who crosses her path.

Rose greets me every time she sees me. EVERY TIME.

She could teach the Dale Carnegie course, and maybe even add a few pointers of her own. She never forgets anyone’s name. Unless you have experienced it yourself, you have no idea what a warm feeling it is for a child you barely know to call you by name every time she sees you.

I’m grateful for Rose, but the rest of today’s question is about how she will make the world a better place. The answer is that she is ALREADY making the world a better place!

Rose exudes unconditional love. When you meet her, you might get the feeling she is an angel. She knows no hate, no political rhetoric, no unkindness of any sort. I don’t know about the whole rest of the world, but she is certainly making the world around her a MUCH better place! I’m thankful to be in her world.

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 8

Day 8 – November 8 – “Give thanks for those that bless the church by planting flowers, mowing the lawn, and making the outside of the building look beautiful.”

Thanks indeed! The gardeners who perform these labors of love do so with their own equipment/mowers/clippers. They labor in the hot sun, with a spirit of grace and pride in their work. I lift them up in prayer and I’m very grateful for them.

But in this spirit, I’m also thankful for the volunteers who work every year for the Yard Work Ministry at the church. These guys mow lawns and weed-eat and clip hedges for people in the community who are unable to do it themselves. What a WONDERFUL ministry! Summer in Alabama is not a joke, with temperatures frequently hitting 100 degrees, with 90% humidity. Yet, these folks load up their mowers and head into the community. I give thanks for them too.

So while I’m thinking about it, I look around my neighborhood, and I see people out mowing their own lawns, but some of them ease on over to their neighbors’ lawns too. We have a lot of older people, but like many communities, some of our homes are “gentrified”, with millennials living there. These young people do not hesitate to do double lawn duty for their elderly neighbors. 

So on a broader scale than asked, I give thanks for all the people who help others keep their yards beautiful by donating a few hours of their time, and a bit of gasoline/oil for their mowers, and doubling up on the sweat.

Amen!

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 7

 Day 7 – November 7 – “What is the best gift you’ve ever received?”

This is the most difficult topic so far, because “best” is so broad. It’s like asking me what is the best book I’ve ever read, or the best movie I’ve seen.

As for gifts, the one I treasure the most is a personal note on a Christmas card Mark gave me about 13 years ago. I still keep it in my Bible, and read it often. I have it memorized now, of course, but I still love to see his handwriting, because I see his face in my mind.

Another “best” gift is my Quilt of Valor. These are handmade for one veteran, and there is a cloth marker on the back of the quilt that states who made it, and for whom. Since I’m old, I actually use mine. It makes me feel cozy to wrap up in it.

My brother, Bob Galloway, and his wife Eunice have given me so much over the years… not just their love, but several trips to North Carolina, Washington D.C., and other places, and twice in the last 15 years or so, they have bailed me and my family out of dire emergencies. It’s hard to say what is the “best” gift they’ve given me.

Finally, the folded flag I was given by the Hoover Veterans Committee back in 2018. It was flown over the capitol in Alabama in my honor, and has the certificate signed by Governor Kay Ivey.

I’m thankful for all these gifts, and many more. 

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 6

 Day 6 – November 6 – “Give thanks for someone who forgave you.”

Now this one is downright impossible. I have no way of knowing for sure what is in someone else’s heart. Forgiveness isn’t about words. Forgiveness is a state of the heart and soul. I know when I forgive, but as far as humans are concerned, that’s all I can really know.

It seems my dog forgives me, but then he loves me unconditionally. I can yell at him, stomp my foot at him, and slam the door in his face, yet he wags his tail and smiles at me, licks me, and nuzzles me. He apparently forgives my temper and bad moods.

And I know for a certainty that God forgives me, and that’s the ONLY one I’m positive about… so thank you, God, for forgiving me.

Pastor Malinda, I have to call ‘FOUL” on this question.

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 5

Day 5 – November 5 – “Give thanks for music, art, and authors. Name one of your favorites.”

Pastor Malinda, next time you do a list of what to be thankful for, please give us 3 different days for these different categories. For today, though, I’m going to gloss over art (Some of my favorite artists are Michelle Branson, Jinger Crouch Glasgow, and She-She Vaughn). I’m going to basically skip authors also (Some of my favorite authors are James Lee Burke, Michael Swindle, and whoever I am currently reading…  namely, TODAY, Candace Millard.)

So let’s talk MUSIC. Can you guess who my favorite musician is? If not, you don’t know me.

But Aaron Branson wouldn’t be the skilled musician he is today without so many other people from whom he has learned technique, theory, music history, and who have encouraged him along the way. Most of these people are gifted musicians in their own right, and some of them are my “adopted” children. I can’t name every single important person for this list, so in no particular order of importance, because all of them belong in the number two position for one reason or another, here are some of them:

Will Cash  Aaron’s first guitar teacher, at age 10 or so. Now they remain best friends, have been in dozens of bands and music groups together over the years, have authored music together, attended UAB together, have been in each other’s weddings, have shared the love of each other’s mothers, and I could write a book about him. One of the most talented guitar players in the South. I thank God for Will Cash.

Mark Lanter One of Aaron’s first UAB instructors, but more important, head of the Jazz Combo, and Aaron’s first public concert “recital”. He called Aaron one of the most talented bass players he has ever had, endearing himself to me the first time I met him. Over the years, they have also become great friends, continued to play in numerous groups together, including Black Jacket Symphony, Eat A Peach, and the Peytones. Mark is one of my favorite musicians, and a terrific drummer. I thank God for Mark Lanter.

Allen Barlow Besides being one of the most talented guitarists around, Allen owns Homewood School of Music, and has given many musicians the chance to teach music to others. Allen LIVES his Christian faith. During the COVID quarantine, he has created opportunities for many musicians to perform virtually, earn virtual tips, and therefore maintain food on their tables and homes in which to put those tables. Allen quietly worships God in everything he does, every note he plays, and I love him. I thank God for Allen Barlow.

This is getting too long, and I haven’t even STARTED on my “second favorite” musicians, so just let me share a few more who all share that spot: Tyler Diuguid, Peyton Grant, J Willoughby, Matt Casey, Matt Carroll, and Nic Herring.

I thank God for MUSICIANS.

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 4

 Day 4 - November 4 "Give thanks for the food on your table."

During the last 6 months of the COVID pandemic, I have not only given thanks for the food on my table, but for the people who made extra effort to be sure my family and I had food.

I thank God every day for Tyrone, Miriam, and Olivia Tolbert, who brought me boxes of food every week for several months. I was able to share the bounty with my family and my neighbors. I really was blessed by their love and thoughtfulness. No... I AM blessed!

The 21st District Youth Group, led by Chrystal Jones and Connie Demand also called me when they did their Veteran Food Giveaway. 

My neighbors Scott and Margaret have given me dozens of fresh eggs from their chickens. 

Aaron shared his meals from Satterfield's with me almost weekly.

So while I always thank God for the food on my table, I also pray for the people He works through to be sure I have the food to thank him for.

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 3

Day 3 – November 3 – “Open the door or a window. What’s something you’re grateful for outside?”

I’m grateful for my side patio and the memories it holds from over the last 30 years.

When we moved here in 1991, there were 2 albino squirrels that skittered across the top of the fence every morning, and sometimes in the afternoons. For about 3 years, they played on that fence and in the magnolia tree that grows in the middle of the patio. We watched them for hours on end.

We put a table and chairs out there, and a grill in the little gazebo at the edge of the patio. We barbecued year-round, hosted hundreds of cookouts for the boys and their friends over the 20 or so years they were home.

I gathered different kinds of wind chimes from all over the world, and put them across the top of the gazebo, and on top of the gazebo, the boys had a ”clubhouse”, with wooden slats up the edge to climb into it.

One edge of the gazebo was a hickory tree. I showed the boys how to crack hickory nuts with a rock, and how to pick out the meager fruit with a bobby pin. We also used the hulls from the nuts to throw on the charcoal for a hickory smoke flavor. Daddy always said you could starve to death eating hickory nuts.

One day, Keith used some of the bamboo jungle to build a “shed” in a corner of the patio. He put 2 chairs and a little table in there. We spent so many nights out there with candles and a boom box, solving the world’s problems,sometimes laughing, sometimes crying, or just enjoying the nights.

We built a little bamboo fence across the far side of the patio, to keep Lucy, our little dog, inside the area, and it was on that patio where Harry, Lucy’s “husband” breathed his last.

We caught a baby possum out there one evening. He was disoriented and frightened. After a few days, when his mamma didn’t show up to claim him, we took him to the wildlife center at Oak Mountain. We later learned that, without our knowledge or permission, Mark had hidden the possum in his jacket and taken him to school for a day.

Aaron fell out of the magnolia tree several times, since he climbed it almost every day for about 3 years. We were glad it was short, so he had only about 6 feet to fall. He was never seriously injured.

Keith made a little shade garden around the base of the tree, but once we put the dogs out there, they made it into their bathroom, so the plants didn’t make it after that.

Now the furniture is gone. The bamboo fence and the shed are gone. The grill is gone, and even the gazebo is gone.

The things that remain are the magnolia tree, now 30 years older and much taller, the hickory tree, that still drops nuts all over the patio, and, of course, the memories.

I’m thankful for the memories.

30 Days of Gratitude Day 2

Day 2 – November 2 – “What’s something that you’re looking forward to?”

Lots of things. It’s hard to choose just one thing… but let’s start with tomorrow. Tomorrow is the most important Presidential election in my lifetime so far. And I’m not so much looking forward to tomorrow, as I’m looking forward to the day AFTER tomorrow, when I hope all the bitter, sarcastic, mean-spirited, nasty, distasteful political bickering and name-calling and mud-slinging will dissipate. We have always been a nation politically divided, but usually we at least listen to one another. This year, nobody has listened to anybody, and everybody has been offensive and vile against everybody else. I’m SICK of it, so I’m VERY MUCH looking forward to it decreasing to a mild howl very soon. The 2 questions I hear the most will be answered: “Do you think there is any way Trump can be re-elected?” “Do you think there is any way Trump can lose the election?” I DON’T KNOW. Yes to both questions. No to both questions. We will know the answer on Wednesday.

On a brighter note, I’m looking forward to Aaron’s gig next Saturday at David’s Pizza in Homewood. I just hope I can find a parking place.

I’m looking forward to next Sunday, when Veterans Week kicks off in Hoover. There will be recognitions of veterans, and presentations of folded flags. There will be PATRIOTISM at its finest. I’m REALLY happily looking forward to that. Also, I’m a keynote speaker, so I’m practicing for that.

Veterans Day, there will be a motorcade through downtown Birmingham, to demonstrate support for veterans, in lieu of the usual parade. I’m hoping to participate as a rider on one of the 100 or so motorcycles that will lead the motorcade. I’m especially looking forward to this particular year’s “non-parade”, because it won’t be so long, so I won’t have to hold my bladder for hours on end.

The Veterans Day banquet will be small and intimate, but I’m still looking forward to it. THIS year, there will be no longwinded speeches that cause me to fall asleep, or want to scream “SHUT UP!” There will be only pertinent speakers, and most attendees will be VSO members. It will be a wonderful evening.

November 14 is the UAB Blazers Homecoming game at Legion Field. There are 1000 free tickets for veterans and their families. I will be presenting the “POW/MIA table” ceremony before the game, so I’m practicing for that. I’m also looking forward to sitting in the midst of 1000 veterans and their families.

And every year I look forward to Thanksgiving. While it won’t be the large family gathering we usually have, the smaller intimate family dinner will still be reason to give thanks for another year of love and support for one another. Thanks to God for a roof over our heads and food on our tables when so many are without either, especially THIS year.

Then I’ll start looking forward to Christmas and Wreaths Across America and all the pre-Christmas activities and parties!

30 Days of Gratitude Day 1

Day 1 – November 1 – “Who are the people (past and present who’ve made a deep, lasting impact on your life?”

Well, dozens. Too many to list here, because it would take hundreds of pages, so I’ll name a few.

First my precious father, whose gentle, happy nature, and positive outlook seemed to always be my rainbow. He was definitely my “port” in every storm life threw me. If there is a saint up there in heaven, it is my Daddy. After he died 50 years ago, I still felt his presence for a long, long time. Every hard choice, every climb up a hill, every heartbreak, I cried to his spirit to help me through it.  I wish Daddy could be there to hug me and cry with me. Every joy, every  goodness, every happy event, the same. I wish Daddy could be there to hug me and enjoy it with me. The impact he had on me was, in part, I try to have his positive outlook. But mostly, I try to live as if he is standing by me. I want him to be able to say, “You did good.”

Other family members, including

Grandmother, who was the hardest worker I’ve ever known, but who also taught me to sew,  taught me to fish and to clean them once I caught them, taught me to love jigsaw puzzles and playing games, and kept our extended family together as long as she lived.

My brother, without whose unconditional love and support I might be homeless right now. I love his dry sense of humor, his intelligence, his spiritual goodness, and his beautiful and loving wife.

My cousins, Pat, George and David, all of whom have positively  impacted me in so many, many ways for so many years.

My sons, whom I will address later in the month, when I’m specifically grateful for my children.

And several lifelong or almost lifelong  friends: Pat, Deenie, Mary, Debbie, Ann, Jinger, and on and on…

Plus a few more “recent” friends, who have enriched my life and made me a whole better person through their support, and through just knowing them:  Ron, Chrystal,  Bob, Nancy, Pam, Mel, Don, and the list goes on…

Thank them all for loving me, supporting me, and blessing me just by knowing you.

A New Normal?

I watch many TED talks on Youtube. Every once in a while, one of them really touches me.  Today I watched “The Hidden Power of Smiling” by Ron Gutman, and was saddened to my very core.  Here is the link if you want to watch:  

 https://youtu.be/U9cGdRNMdQQ

Yesterday I was in the grocery store, where everyone was wearing a mask (of course. It is the rule during COVID-19). We have been in this mask thing for months, so why it bothered me so much yesterday, I can’t tell you.

So, just as an experiment, I walked every aisle, and everyone I encountered did NOT make eye contact with me. Not one.

I walked back to the produce aisle, again walking every aisle, and everyone I passed I said, “Excuse me” to make them look at me, and I smiled at him or her from behind my mask. Sadly, I couldn’t tell whether they knew I smiled, or whether they smiled back at me. By the time I got back to the lettuce, I felt like we were all ‘droids, moving about the store mechanically and isolated. It felt like I was in a science fiction horror movie.

Smiling is one of the most powerful ways we connect to other people. And the TED talk tells us that smiling is both universal and might be one of the keys to longevity. Those two facts alone seem to doom us now. 

Today, at virtual church, my pastor indicated that once COVID-19 is over, we will never go back to the “old normal”. While I do realize the underlying meaning of the sermon was that COVID has spawned an awareness of social issues that she hopes will be part of our “new normal”, I thought about a new normal being masks and social distancing, with no smiles, frowning under the masks because of injustices, not to mention the fact that so many pictures I’ve seen on social media are of masked people, where only the people in the picture know who they are. I hope they are smiling under those masks, whoever they are.

Last month, I got my annual eye exam for new glasses.  The optician left the room while I removed my mask and tried on frames. When I had narrowed the available frames down to 2, I called the optician, and wanting another opinion, asked him to let me back up to the door, hold my breath, take off my mask and try on the frames. That worked, and he told me which frames looked better on my face from across the room.

I realized later that, actually, nobody will see my face with the new glasses except me and my family. I am grateful that my sons can see me smile, because they are the most important, but I’m very sad that I can no longer smile at all the people around me. Don’t even get me started on hugs! 

I’m praying this is NOT our “new normal”.

9/11/2001 thoughts

 Few events in our history have so affected us that we remember them and relive them our entire lives.

None of us were around on April 19, 1775, but I can imagine that a whole generation asked each other, “Where were you when Major Buttrick shouted, “For God’s sake! FIRE!” and that shot was heard around the world, ultimately changing the course of history forever.

My mamma and daddy could tell me exactly where they were on December 7, 1941, a “date that does live in infamy”.

Some of us still ask, “Where were you when President Kennedy was assassinated?”

I was a teenager, it was Fall of my senior year, and I was in art class at Woodlawn High School.

On June 11, 1963, Governor George Wallace had stood on the steps of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama and declared, “Segregation now. Segregation forever.” It would come to be known as the “Stand in the Schoolhouse door”  That footage became so well-known made it into the movie Forest Gump.

In Birmingham, we had survived the “Long Hot Summer of ‘63”, with firehoses and police dogs versus peaceful demonstrators on the streets of downtown. A time that would be replayed over and over on national TV for 50 years.

On August 28, 1963, a quarter of a million people marched on Washington D.C., and they were calmed by Reverend Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech – a presentation that will be repeated so often it is more recognizable than the Gettysburg address.

We had already been horrified on September 15, when the 16^th Street Baptist Church was bombed, killing 4 little girls attending Sunday School. I remember where I was and who I was with when that news was received moments after it happened.

So we wondered what the hell else could happen? could It possible get any worse? 1963 said, “Here. Hold my beer.”

On November 22, 1963, one deadly shot in Dallas, TX horrified our nation, and the world. For a time, we were no longer Republicans or Democrats, but Americans - UNIFIED in grief. John F. Kennedy was President of the United States. That’s ALL of us. Nobody said, “The Democrats lost their President.”

The next 40 or so years, though, were painful on many issues. Black vs white, North vs South… we were still fighting the War Between the States, Marines vs the rest of the military, Vietnam, Gulf War, Somolia, Panama, and on and on, until

September 11, 2001.

Where were you on Sept 11, 2001 at 7:46am Central time? When American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center?  If you were born before about 1991 (the year of Desert Storm), you probably can remember exactly where you were.

By 9:07am, an hour and 15 minutes later, when United flight 93 crashed In Pennsylvania, I know where you were, and what you were doing. You were glued to a television somewhere. You were shocked, angry, and feeling confused and helpless.

You watched in anguish as the Twin towers fell again and again, and the Pentagon exploded. You watched first responders rush through noxious smog into barely visible black holes into crumbling buildings, and people leapt to their deaths from dozens of stories up to escape death by fire. Maybe you wept. Maybe you prayed.

Unless you lived and worked in NYC. Unless you were a first responder in the area. There was no time for weeping or anger. For them, there was only FOCUS.

Of the almost 3000 citizens who perished that day, over 400 were first responders, most of those were firefighters, and ALL of them were true heroes.

My pastor says the church isn’t the building. The church is the people. Its symbol is a cross. Likewise, the United States isn’t the Twin Towers or the Pentagon. The United States is the people. Our symbol is our flag. None of the heroes of 9/11 rushed into the Twin Towers to save a building. Their purpose was to rescue PEOPLE.

In my heart, I KNOW most of them realized that rushing into the mouth of hell that day could most likely be their last action on this earth. I believe most of them knowingly sacrificed all their tomorrows so that somebody’s mother or father, or somebody’s son or daughter could have a TODAY.

The Bible tells us  “Greater love hath no man than this: that he lay  down his life for his friends.”

Except maybe that he lay down his life for a complete stranger?

In the years after 9/11/2001, thousands of first responders suffered the effects of the heat and breathing the toxic dust that day, and many would die from it in a couple of years. By 2013, over 1400 first responders who had worked the scene that day had died from the diagnosis “exposure to toxins at Ground Zero”.  By 2016, another 2100 firefighters had retired on disability with World Trade Center-related illnesses, mostly lung diseases and cancers. This brought the total count of “first Responder casualties” to almost 4,000.

But for a time after the attack on us on 9/11/2001, we ceased being Democrats or Republicans, black or white, Christian or Jewish, rich or poor. Nobody cared if you ate at Chic-fil-a or Ruth’s Chris.

For a time, You remember. we were ALL Americans. We stood shoulder to shoulder, arm in arm, suffering and grieving the same profound loss. American flag companies sold out. There was hardly a car or a truck or a house that did not display an American flag.  What mattered was NOT what divided us, but what UNITED us.  It was the greatest surge of patriotism in my lifetime.

Lest they forget, it is VITAL that we teach our children and grandchildren the pride and glory that being a patriotic America citizen feels like. That’s the real importance of our annual 9/11 memorial services.

We remember and celebrate the day the fires of patriotism burned the brightest, and the day the American spirit could NOT be quenched. It is why we call September 11 “Patriot Day”.

So remember … Where were you on 9/11/2001?  and please… tell the story

Who's On First - 2020 style

This is copy/paste of an actual online chat I had with EarthLink today (May 4, 2020). It reads like a comedy routine:

 at 12:37, May 4:

Thank you for choosing to EarthLink. An agent will be with you shortly.

 at 12:37, May 4:

You can manage your account using our MyEarthLink app now available for Android (Google Play) and iOS (Apple App Store).

You are now chatting with Frank A.

Frank A at 12:37, May 4:

Thank you for contacting EarthLink Sales Chat. This is Frank, who do I have the pleasure of speaking with?

gingerbranson@gmail.com at 12:37, May 4:

Virginia Branson

gingerbranson@gmail.com at 12:37, May 4:

That info is on this screen I sent you

Frank A at 12:38, May 4:

Hi Virginia, Thank you for contacting EarthLink Sales Chat. This is Frank, who do I have the pleasure of speaking with?

gingerbranson@gmail.comat 12:38, May 4:

I haven't moved from this spot. I'm still Virginia

Frank A at 12:38, May 4:

Sorry for the above text

gingerbranson@gmail.comat 12:38, May 4:

I have tried every way I can think of to cancel my installation scheduled for May 15. Since last week, I have been on hold (according to the minutes on my phone) for a total of over 4 hours. If this is your idea of "service", I don't need it!

gingerbranson@gmail.comat 12:39, May 4:

The cable line from the street is down, due to a storm in early April. AT&T came out and said it is a Spectrum cable and they can't touch it.

gingerbranson@gmail.com at 12:40, May 4:

So until I get Spectrum out to put the cable back up, I can't have internet (except for this Verizon hot spot). If Spectrum comes out tomorrow to repair the line, they can just install their modem while they're here.

gingerbranson@gmail.com at 12:41, May 4:

Hopefully, their service is better than yours!

Frank A at 12:42, May 4:

I apologize for the inconvenience caused to you

Frank A at 12:42, May 4:

Can you help me out with your EarthLink email address or account number?

gingerbranson@gmail.com at 12:42, May 4:

gingerbranson@gmail.com and my closest sibling lives in Argo

Frank A at 12:43, May 4:

Alright

Frank A at 12:43, May 4:

Can you help me out with your cell phone number which is linked to your EarthLink account?

gingerbranson@gmail.com at 12:44, May 4:

205-305-8888

Frank A at 12:45, May 4:

Thank you so much

Frank A at 12:45, May 4:

To best assist you with this regard i will go ahead and transfer this chat to our dedicated department, please stay connected while i transfer this chat.

gingerbranson@gmail.com at 12:45, May 4:

ok

Info at 12:45, May 4:

Please wait while your chat is transferred to the appropriate group.

                                                    Info at 12:45, May 4:

You can manage your account using our MyEarthLink app now available for Android (Google Play) and iOS (Apple App Store).

You are now chatting with John M.

gingerbranson@gmail.com at 12:45, May 4:

Hi John

John M at 12:46, May 4:

Hi

gingerbranson@gmail.com at 12:46, May 4:

Can you read my texts? Or do I need to start over?

John M at 12:46, May 4:

Let me check it

gingerbranson@gmail.com at 12:49, May 4:

My original installation was April 28. Nobody showed up. I called on April 29 and was told my installation would be May 4. Then I got an email that my installation would be May 15. And nobody addressed the original issue that the internet line is down in my yard due to a storm on April 12. I FINALLY got AT&T to come out last week to at least put the cable line back up. They said it is a Charter/Spectrum cable, and they can't touch it. Spectrum is coming tomorrow to put the cable back up, and I am going to ask them for their modem while they're here.

gingerbranson@gmail.com at 12:50, May 4:

That's making a VERY long story VERY VERY short.

John M at 12:50, May 4:

Okay

John M at 12:52, May 4:

Modem will provided by the installation tech.

gingerbranson@gmail.com at 12:52, May 4:

I hope so. I've asked them

John M at 12:52, May 4:

It is a different modem designed for your connection

gingerbranson@gmail.com at 12:52, May 4:

What are you talking about?

You don't work for Spectrum

John M at 12:53, May 4:

It is about modem

gingerbranson@gmail.com at 12:53, May 4:

Let me repeat and be VERY CLEAR: I am cancelling my Earthlink account.

I want nothing to do with AT&T.

Or Earthlink who puts me on hold for hours on end

John M at 12:55, May 4:

What city does your nearest sibling live in?

gingerbranson@gmail.com at 12:55, May 4:

Argo. He hasn't moved in the last 10 minutes

gingerbranson@gmail.com at 13:04, May 4:

It's not YOUR fault. I know and I'm sorry for the rant, but now I just want to cancel my installation

John M at 13:04, May 4:

That's Unfortunate to hear that you want to terminate your account with us. It is not possible to inactivate the account via Chat. However, I will provide complete information on how to inactivate the account in detail.Please contact our EarthLink's Customer Service Phone Support team, they are the only authorized team to make changes on your account.  EarthLink's Customer Service Phone Support team can be reached on Mon-Sun between 9 a.m - 6 p.m. Eastern Time, at 1-888-EarthLink (888-327-8454).Once you contact our phone support team, they will respect your decision and make changes to your account as per your wish to do the needful.

gingerbranson@gmail.com at 13:04, May 4:

I would love to do that too, and have tried twice on Friday and twice already today.

gingerbranson@gmail.com at 13:05, May 4:

That line is just an "on hold" line you for the information. I am able to verify your account.

John M at 12:56, May 4:

Hyperlink Internet service is provided by Earthlink with the help of  AT & T

gingerbranson@gmail.com at 12:56, May 4:

Thank goodness Verizon gives me unlimited data on my hot spot.

gingerbranson@gmail.com at 12:57, May 4:

I know

gingerbranson@gmail.com at 12:57, May 4:

Except neither of them provides ANYTHING apparently

John M at 12:57, May 4:

I suggest you to check the performance and then decide

gingerbranson@gmail.com at 12:58, May 4:

I would LOVE to, but I've been trying to do just that since April 15

And I still haven't had the opportunity to check the performance.

John M at 12:59, May 4:

Okay

gingerbranson@gmail.com at 12:59, May 4:

Other than the one AT&T technician who told me he can't help me.

John M at 13:01, May 4:

okay

gingerbranson@gmail.com at 13:01, May 4:

I had Uverse before the line went down. They also are AT&T. Their customer service sent out a new modem to solve the line down issue. Then when that one didn't work either, because the line was down, they wanted to send me yet ANOTHER modem! Good GRIEF

John M at 13:01, May 4:

I can understand how you must be feeling right now

gingerbranson@gmail.com at 13:02, May 4:

I originally called EarthLink because I didn't know it was AT&T. :(

"A rose by any other name..."

gingerbranson@gmail.com at 13:04, May 4:

It's not YOUR fault. I know and I'm sorry for the rant, but now I just want to cancel my installation

John M at 13:04, May 4:

That's Unfortunate to hear that you want to terminate your account with us. It is not possible to inactivate the account via Chat. However, I will provide complete information on how to inactivate the account in detail.Please contact our EarthLink's Customer Service Phone Support team, they are the only authorized team to make changes on your account.  EarthLink's Customer Service Phone Support team can be reached on Mon-Sun between 9 a.m - 6 p.m. Eastern Time, at 1-888-EarthLink (888-327-8454).Once you contact our phone support team, they will respect your decision and make changes to your account as per your wish to do the needful.