Never Forget

These days I often forget what I'm doing right in the middle of doing it. If there is something I need to remember, I must put a visual reminder. Sometimes, even with the reminder, I stare at it and think, "Now why did I put this here?"

Growing up, I used to hear grown-ups talk about where they were on Pearl Harbor Day. My parents knew all about the hardships and sorrows of world war. They experienced the Great Depression of the 1930's firsthand. Mama used to talk about how certain items were rationed "during the war" such as sugar and other commodities. Most people I knew were very patriotic and glad to sacrifice for the American Cause.

Since I was born about six months before the end of World War II, I don't remember any of that, except for the black and white movies I saw about the Depression or the War. It was totally normal to me to love my country and be honored to stand and salute Old Glory. It was not joked about nor was disrespect tolerated.

After I grew up, being just a little older than the Hippie Generation of the '70's, I was astonished at the attitudes of disrespect for our great country that "cropped up." When President John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas, Texas, I mourned for a long time. Everyone I knew could tell you exactly what they were doing when the news of his assassination came on television.

We are about to arrive at the ten year anniversary of the saddest event in recent American history... Nine One One. Like the assassination of the President, it was an event most every American adult could tell you where they were and what they thought when they first became aware of it. With all the media available to all of us that day, countless millions of Americans witnessed those horrific plane crashes that forever changed the way we travel in this country.

I was at work at the landscape company in my little office, when a co-worker, his cell phone to his ear, said, "The World Trade Center has been bombed..." In a nearby room there was a television set normally used for training classes. As I passed that room, I noticed the set was on and showing a huge plume of smoke coming from one of the twin towers at the World Trade Center. Just like the time when Kennedy was shot, there was nothing else on television with any significant number of viewers, for days, probably weeks.

My daughter, Beth, had been looking for a job around that time. She had applied for and been hired at the San Diego Airport. That was to have been her first day of training. She had arrived early, and was sitting in her car in the parking lot waiting to go inside. She was listening to music from a CD player in the car, not the radio. Foot traffic was flowing around her normally, not particularly heavy. Suddenly, a huge crowd of people poured out of the terminal building, and spilled into all the parking lot. At first she thought it must have been some big flight had arrived and all the people were leaving, but it was a far greater crowd than that would have generated. They just kept coming and kept coming. When she did get inside the terminal and reported to the proper place for her orientation, she found out what had happened and that the airport was being evacuated.

Beth's job never did materialize. Air travel has never been the same since that day. America has never been the same since that day. Most everyone remembers where he or she was that day when they heard the news. Some say they will never forget...

 I may forget. That's one reason I'm writing this all down. I want my grandchildren to know about that point in history from my perspective. Even if I'm around for quite a while to tell them about it, I'm finding that these days sometimes my Rememberer is broken while my Forgetter is getting better. (I'm smiling.)

There is one historical event I never want to forget. It is the most important event that ever happened in human history. It happened when God Almighty, the Creator of the universe became a human (on purpose!) and walked among us. Particularly, it happened when He laid down His life for His friends. He gave up His life so His friends (you and I) could live in eternity with Him. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross is the pivotal event in history (His Story).

The world today is a different world for my grandchildren than it was for me. It's more complicated, it seems. There is more hatred and violence and ... well, SIN than ever before. Or maybe not. Maybe I'm just seeing more from my perspective of a Grannie. The bottom line is this: Christ died for the ungodly. There will never be so much ungodliness that His bloody death will not be enough to redeem us from. He paid for our sins. If we accept that, we're His. Forever.

Oh, yes! I like it. I tell you, I really like it.