September 11th

September 11, 2001 is obviously on a lot of people's minds right now. I was at West Point Elementary School in West Point, Nebraska serving as elementary principal. I will never forget my good buddy, Scott Shepard at WPHS, calling me to tell me something horrible was going on that morning.

My first thought went to my step-mama as she was a flight attendant for TWA/American at the time. I wasn't sure what her flight schedule was and it took me about an hour to confirm she was OK and home in Florida watching the disaster unravel like so many of us were. I was very thankful and relieved to learn that she was safe.

I will always remember Charlene Recker, an awesome 2nd grade teacher, who had a son that worked at the Pentagon. She came to me in tears not knowing if he was OK and she was unable to reach him. I covered her class for a little over an hour while she tried to connect with family, etc. I then took her class to PE and went back to my office. A few minutes later, I answered the phone and it was Mrs. Recker's son. I believe his name was Jason. I burst across the hallway to tell Charlene to come to my office for a phone call (I was too dumb to figure out how to transfer the call to her room). The pure joy and relief on her face as she spoke with her son will always stick with me. It was a huge relief for all of us.

The rest of that day was a blur. I remember lines of cars 25 deep at Casey's trying to fill up with gas because nobody knew what the days ahead would bring. I remember Graybeal's Grocery Store having long lines too. But mostly, I just remember sadness. I had three children at the time with Taylor and Micah being 8 and 6 and Jeb just 15 months old.

That night it really hit me. Like almost everyone else, we were learning about the massive and senseless loss of lives from across the country. Sadness turned to anger. Anger turned to sadness. It was horrible. I remember taking Taylor and Micah to McDonald's to get them an ice cream cone and to try and explain in basic terms what had happened. On the way home, I was listening to the radio and I heard a recap of what First Lady Laura Bush had encouraged parents and educators to tell our children and that is that they are safe, we live in a great country, and we're going to be ok.

I wasn't sure how to address the issue with our 350 K-5th graders the next morning and I wasn't sure if I even should. Mary Thomas, another awesome 2nd grade teacher, convinced me that the kids (and staff) needed to hear something from me in the gym that morning where everyone gathered before the bell rang.

With a lump in my throat, I simply told WPES what First Lady Bush said. We are safe. We are lucky to be Americans. We will be ok. I went on to tell our students that it is ok to be sad. It is ok to be mad. It is ok to not be sure how you feel. We then talked about doing our part to make sure we worked hard and supported each other so we could be the best students and staff we could be and how powerful that would be if all Americans did that. I was very appreciative of Mrs. Bush's leadership. Her words helped me and many others.

I then went to my office, shut the door, and cried for an hour. The reality of the tragedy was setting in.

I will never forget how "patriotic" everyone seemed for the next few months. National Anthems at ball games became "events." Military fly overs and salutes to emergency responders and law enforcement personnel gave you the chills. Remember how awesome the Huskers "Tunnel Walk" was the following week with firemen and police men carrying the stars and stripes?

While I never ever want any of us to have to re-live 9-11-01, I do wish we could re-live every day the togetherness and closeness and pride we felt for the next few months. I wish we all felt as grateful to be Americans now as we did that fall. I wish we all didn't take for granted all the things we do now that we didn't for a few months.

The United States of America is far from perfect. We do a lot of things that don't always work out too well. However, I am always proud to be an American. I love this country and what it stands for not just today or tomorrow but every day. We are very fortunate to live in this country and to have the opportunities we have. I hope more people appreciate it.

I will NEVER be embarrassed to fly an American flag at my house. I will never apologize for supporting our military. I will never stop loving this country.