"Where were you on September 11?"

has been the focus all week for the morning show at UCB Canada 102.3. Kevin and Dana have been interviewing people on the street, and taking in phone calls and e-mails and including them as part of a tribute. I e-mailed a blurb in, and include it here.

An apology to any of you who have tried to listen to UCB online in the last couple of weeks. Apparently it is a bandwidth issue; listenership during the morning show has gone up exponentially in the last few weeks and they don't have the bandwidth to support the numbers trying to listen. UCB is working on this at present, but it may take some time (which they have), and financial resources (which they may not yet have :) ..).

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From my perspective ... as a mom of young children ...

We were homeschooling in NJ. The day was incredibly, indescribably beautiful, and we were out for phys ed doing gymnastics on the front lawn. My neighbour came over and urged me to get inside and turn the TV on.

I had already noticed a unusual lack of airflight, and within a few minutes air force planes started over head. We put the TV on, and history became the lesson for the day. My kiddoes watched it all ... we cried, and prayed for people, and gave thanks to God that Daddy's regular meeting at the World Trade Centre had been cancelled that day. (Edited to add: Kev had canceled his regular Tuesday meeting at the World Trade Center on Monday). We prayed for several church members who were were missing for the better part of 36 hours, although were accounted for later. We talked about good ... and evil, and God's place in it all. Dad came home from work (his office was right around the corner), got on the computer, and began receiving e-mail after devastating e-mail with news of friends' and clients' deaths.

Another hard part for me was hearing from other parents later. The teachers, who all knew what was happening, were not allowed to say anything in the schools. The students could hear their hushed discussions and cracking voices, and were not allowed to know what was going on. Even when parents starting arriving in tears to pick up their own children ... the ones left behind had no idea. It was a truly terrifying experience for the kids in school, and a very difficult time for their teachers who did the best they could. Later on our NJ church gifted every elementary school teacher in three counties with a bookstore gift certificate, along with a letter of thanks for the challenges they faced that day.

That day had a permanently sobering impact on me. We really never will know when it will be our time to go. So while we can, we need to "choose life"!.