Reflections of . . . .

It was a late-summer morning just like today---gorgeous, crisp, ordinary. I was still teaching and rushing around the house to get ready for school. My haste, however, has never stopped me from checking my email and the Internet headlines at least 50 times a day.

As an incurable news freak, I never want to miss anything, so when I saw the Yahoo news headline "Plane hits World Trade Center," I ran to the TV, turned on CNN and told Bill, "This sounds big."

What an understatement!

The next several hours, even in far-away Sandpoint, were nothing short of intense and filled with feelings of incredulous horror. I could hardly pull myself away from the CNN coverage, which included live accounts of that second plane hitting the towers. I called each of my kids, who were living in Boise, then went back to watching.

The usual morning departure time of 7:15 a.m. came. Duty called four miles down the road. I finally had to leave the TV behind and drive to school, feeling somewhat removed from the world during my temporary news blackout of what was rapidly unfolding in New York City, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.

My students and staff members spent the rest of the day glued to TV sets, horrified, somber and speculating about what this would mean to America and to each of us personally.

I'll never forget the young man in my first period English class who asked if he could please go call home because his brother was in the Navy and he'd probably have to go to War.

What a prophetic statement coming from a 16-year-old on this beautiful day in September! Who knows how many brothers and sisters have gone to War since?

It's easy to be sober each September 11 as we remember the most horrific day of our lives since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and as our elders recount their reactions on Dec. 7, 1941, when Pearl Harbor was attacked.

In each case, the uncertainty of the future prevailed. The future has come and gone in each case. Lives and perspectives have been forever altered. America moves on, and Americans move on, all in their own directions and all with their unique outlooks.

If there's any lesson from days like Sept. 11, Nov. 22, or Dec. 7, I guess it's about good old-fashioned, roll-up-your-sleeves resilience. Also, we're struck by how singular monumental events, no matter how far off, affect us all in our own individual ways. Our reaction to them will vary according to our circumstances. Our memory is vivid.

Moreover, we may go off to war, or we may remain on the home front, doing what we know best to ensure that the nation keeps moving forward. Yet, we all serve---as firefighters, policemen, social workers, doctors, etc.

In my case, doing what I knew best was to continue teaching young people and to stand as an example that we can be shaken, but we don't succumb to such horror. Instead, we move on with the details of life, demonstrating our individual and national fortitude.

Finally, we remember the sacrifices of others not so fortunate as those of us who live on enjoying the freedoms, the ability to disagree with one another and the potential that this country continues to offer us, in spite of its bad days.