First a little note - as hard as it may be to believe for some, we've never micro-managed our kids [if they didn't study for a test and flunked - it was their flunk; if they needed a visual for a presentation - they were welcome to use stuff from the craft room, but had to put it all together themselves - even when the lines weren't straight and drove me batty - lol.] So - that said, it was HIS responsibility to read the book and know what was required to take this test.
It was MY responsibility to get up at 5:00 and get him there in line by 5:30 or 6:00 [IN THE MORNING] to assure he could take it and be out of there in time for an orthodontist appointment later in the morning... Basically, here in our little town, if you weren't one of the first ten people in line you risked having to wait ALL DAY or even come back in the morrow - not something either of us wanted to do - So we took our spot in line [because, yes there were other crazies there with us -] and waited the two hours until the doors opened to get our number. And as we waited I started noticing others had extra little papers in their hands...
And just as the doors opened I asked the oldest about that and he decided he'd READ THE BOOK to find out the requirements - and learned we needed some things - like his birth certificate, and school confirmation, etc. I won't lie - I was so, so very upset. [Furious? May be too strong a word - but MAD? Yes.] Here, we'd waited two hours and didn't even have what we needed to test... and we lived a good 40 minutes away... so we got our number, called Dad to meet us half-way with the birth certificate and headed to Krispy Kreme for a doughnut [because afterall, doesn't warm sugary goodness always make things better?]
And we turned on the radio - and heard news of the first plane. Suddenly missing papers weren't so important afterall - and as we met Dad to get the birth certificate we heard about the other plane; and we went to the school for the needed papers and there was much discussion of the safety of our little town [which has a military base and lots of techie missile command companies supporting it.] Then, as we drove down the long hill of Airport Road to the orthodontist appointment we heard the first tower fall - and in the office watched in horror with the rest of our country as things changed forever.
And we learned that life goes on - and, that we really shouldn't sweat the small stuff; papers, and grades, and even driver's permits can wait. There are SO MANY things that are so much more important. Immediately, I was very thankful to gather my little chickadees close and JUST BE together.
And now, ten years later, [our baby's 25!! - Where does the time go?!] we've faced changes in our lives - heightened security here in town and airport changes are the ones that affect us directly - but again, that's small stuff compared to the families who were immediately impacted and lost their moms, and dads, and sons, and daughters, and grandparents.... I pray comfort for them as they go through the motions of the day - may they feel the peace that only God can give -
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