nmah4088.xml

nmah4088.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

My Chapel Assistant, Oral and I were in the city limits of Hurstsboro, Alabama when we stopped to see another old friend who told us by the roadside about the New York attacks. By the time we made a call at the home of a former Chaplain at Valley Rescue Mission, Columbus, Ga., where we were visiting a dying mother of dear friends, the televison was giving us the latest reports. Our hearts went out to the people in the holocaust and especially the survivors. Like so many,we soon learned of local people who had been in the Trade Center and Pentagon or who had friends and/or relatives in the midst of the terror. Although we are many miles from "Ground Zero", we have kept faith and support with those who suffered the greatest and most immediate losses even as our own Rescue Agency had to absorb fincancial and material losses in the months following. Our Community most generously rose to the occasion in support of NYC, DC, and Pennsylvania as well as local Helping Agencies.

On 9/11/2002 as we spent time in silence at the Anniversary hour with about fifteen men in our Drug and Alcohol Recovery Ministry and then sang and shared with Staff and Residents at the local Oak Manor Nursing Home with fire fighters, police officers, and military representatives from near by Fort Benning, Ga., I was deeply moved by the sympathy, testimonies of life changes, prayers, and close fellowship among people of varied backgrounds gravitating around a mutual Memorial. We are moving on. We pray for people who still live with the up close and personal in the attack areas; thank God for the heroes that are rising and trust we will all have the resolve to see this battle through regardless of time involved and cost to our comfort.

We are simply Americans moving on with life.