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Showing posts from September, 2008

September 11, 2008

Driving from north Oklahoma City to Norman daily, you begin to notice things. The guys on the road. New construction. New buildings. Stuff like that. But Thursday, Sept. 11, was different. The road was slick with rain and the sky, dull and gray. I drove alone, listening to Simon and Garfunkle. It was at the 23rd Street overpass, that my trip became more than just the daily trek to Norman. There, standing alone on the overpass was an elderly man. He looked, say, about 60. Jeans. Large checked shirt. Ball cap. He stood silently. In the rain. Holding a large American Flag. It was obvious that for him, this date had some importance. I reached over and turned off the radio — the silence of the car broken only by the slap of the windshield wipers against the glass. I slowed and, acknowledged him with a sort of salute-wave. He saw me and, in return, nodded his head. I'm still not sure how I felt, but I know the day somehow seemed better because of that brief exchange. Someone else had giv...

Lessons from the van, Part One

I was tired. It had been a long, long day. School. Work. Latin. More Latin. Homework. Then the, "Honey can you pick up the kids?" phone call. Thankfully, the parking lot of Incredible Pizza is big and they don't mind if you hang out in the fire lane (at least as long as you stay in your car). So I waited. And waited. And waited. The kids didn't want to leave. Karen went back inside for a meeting, and Zach wasn't happy. More waiting. Then, the storm. For some unknown reason, the youngest Carter — now sporting a bad attitude and three teeth — started crying. The cries quickly became a scream. A real, loud, destroy-your-hearing scream. Seriously, Zach was not happy — he went from screaming to crying and wailing, then he broke out the soul-wrenching, window shattering unhappy screams. Now I understand why some parents murder their children. Nothing I did, absolutely nothing, could make Zach happy. The screaming -- at several decibels higher than the average Van Halen ...

Remembering Jessie Helms

A few months ago — July 4th, to be exact — former U.S. Senator Jesse Helms died. Across the country, many politicians spent days fawning over Helms and his “devotion, kindness and faith” they missed a good portion of the man’s life. They told touching stories. They talked about Helms love of his fellow man. But they left a few things out. They didn’t talk about Helms’ entire career in the United States Senate. Now, please, don't think I'm going to sit in judgement of the former Senator's soul. That's not my job, I'll leave that for the Almighty. But I do think we should look at Helms' work as a public servant. And in that arena, Helms failed miserably. Sure there were all sorts of tributes to Helms, praising him for his conservative credentials and Christian values. In fact, according to CNN, the Rev. Billy Graham, said folks “honor his legendary life and extraordinary legacy.” But as honorable as the Rev. Graham is, he failed in his eulogy. Because Jesse Helms...