DOWN HOME:
Some dates will stand the test of time, always
___Sept.11 always has been one of my favorite dates.
___Twenty-five years ago last Tuesday, I pulled up to Blanch Lange Hall on the campus of Hardin-Simmons University and picked up a graceful coed from Fort Worth.
___A few minutes later, she climbed into my old Plymouth sedan, and we took off for our first date.
___We hung out at the West Texas Fair. Literally. We rode something sort of like a Ferris wheel, except the seat didn't pivot. Part of the time, we hung parallel to the West Texas
plain. I remember putting my hand under the back of her head, because I was afraid she'd sprain her pretty neck and never go out with me again.
___Then we drove over to Tony's Pizza Cave and ate pepperoni pizza and drank Cokes and talked and talked. (Later, she corrected this account, claiming I talked and talked while she listened.) I even did my Jimmy Stewart impression for her.
___ That evening Joanna Jarchow waltzed into my heart--quite a feat at a school that didn't officially allow dancing.
___I've never been the same.
___So, every Sept. 11 since 1976 has been a personal thanksgiving day for me. It's a day to express gratitude to God for blessing me with the girl who became my best friend, the love of my life, the mother of our darling daughters, my wife.
___This Sept. 11 was to be special. Twenty-five years of togetherness is a big deal. How could I measure my good fortune? Impossible.
___Of course, the day didn't turn out as planned. Not just for Jo and me, but for everybody in this country.
___A band of terrorists hijacked the remaining remnants of our national innocence. They demolished our sense of security and wounded our moral psyche.
___And we'll never be the same.
___From now on, 9/11 will remind Americans of terror, vulnerability, hate and evil.
___But I hope it will remind us of courage, compassion and bipartisan determination to recognize that the values and aspirations we hold in common are far greater than political issues that divide us.
___And I pray it will remind us that life is sacred, never to be taken for granted. That each day is a gift, always to be treasured, never to be wasted. That the next journey cross-country or trip to the office could be our last, not to be ignored.
___Hug your loved ones. Pray for fellow citizens whose arms ache to hug a loved one just one more time.
___And walk through life with your eyes wide-open, appreciating the events around you.
___You never know when you'll never be the same.
The Baptist Standard
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