At about 10:45am on 9/11/01 a call came through to my desk, it was a friend, his sister-in-law was on flight 11 out of Boston. She was only 40yrs old. Heck, it had seemed like just yesterday when her family threw a surprise birthday party for her - it was a perfect one too, she had no clue! You see, I first met her at this rowdy backyard party and now, now I'm at her funeral staring at one of her favorite hats perched empty on the altar.

I sat with the family in the second pew, while behind us stretching out far into the church lawn and side roads was a crowd of over 2,000. They listened to the service on a makeshift loudspeaker system. We had no idea how many people were there until we turned to leave and found the throngs had made a path for us from the door all the way to the cars. The newsmedia was there but seemed to stay out of the family’s way. later sat on the front porch amongst dozens of candles that had been burning for weeks...we sat there a long time all of us mostly quiet. Thankful that we had gone over 20 or so days and no repeat attacks. God seemed a little closer on that porch that night and was holding the hand of our departed imagined in the soft candle glow.

A few candles still burn.

Sure a lot of life has ‘happened’ since then. But I have never forgotten it or minimized it.

Seven years ago we were a country brought together by a tragedy. This week half of us simply tossed out everything this land and her people have fought for and stood for in the past two centuries-just tossed it out with the garbage. Flippant, moronic, shallow, selfish half-wits that don’t deserve to call this country their home!

I am an American, I am aconservative and I live in the most liberal state of our union-thank you for safe harbor Free Republic.