Goodbye Bessie

Today, I had a "bittersweet" moment. I said goodbye to a very loyal car, Bessie. While it wasn't new, it was my first car. My dad had gotten her when we lived in Virginia Beach and I learned to drive in her. I drove her across the country when we moved to Washington and before my Junior year of college drove her back across the country to TN. I was very recognizable on campus with a 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass Cruiser...especially with no AC in the hot humid weather and when her head liner started to sag! But with a little TLC now and then (had to get new tires and a new alternator when I was in college...and I put a CD player in her) and lots of love she got me through the last couple years of school...another trip across the country toting a U-Haul behind her after graduation...and as my car until just three years ago....today we said goodbye. She has been sitting in our driveway for awhile and while she is definitely still drivable, would need a lot of internal cosmetic work and some new parts to get her working. So we found a charitable organization that had it towed away for free and will fix it up and sell it for that price to someone who needs it. Jason found amusement in my "bittersweet moments" watching her get towed away...but she was a reliable and hardworking car for me that "carried" lots of memories that I will never forget...thanks old girl, I know you will serve someone else just as well!!

We Remember

Hard to believe that seven years has passed by since September 11th and the attack on the World Trade Centers, the Pentagon and the crash in Pennsylvania. Hard to think that my girls weren't born and I wasn't even married. I think September 11th is one of those days that everyone will remember "where they were when IT happened". I do...I was at Maryville College in TN and just walking into my first class for the day, Comparative Vertebrate Zoology with Dr. Cash. A friend of mine walked into the room and asked if we had heard about the plane crashing into a New York building. A couple people said "ya, a little" but most of us said no. The professor started teaching and I remember in the back of my mind thinking, gosh...I hope it wasn't a bad plane crash! Slowly the noise in the halls outside the doors started to get our attention. When we opened them we saw people standing around crying, people glued to radios and TVs and lots of confusion. I remember racing over to my apartment (the campus was eerily empty since everyone was inside by a TV) and tuning it on to catch up on all the news. My stomach ached, my heart ached and I think my emotions were stunned and in disbelief. I remember feeling so scared, so alone and just wanting to be home in WA with my family and loved ones. I called all day to Jason, then my fiance, who was stationed at a base there right outside the city and not hearing ANYTHING from him for HOURS. I was so relieved when I knew he was ok and spent the rest of the day numb and with close friends and calling home a lot!! I thank God for the safety of my loved ones, I pray for those that are still mourning the loss of theirs, and I feel so grateful and blessed to be part of a great nation where we have brave men and women in uniform to protect this freedom we get to enjoy everyday. We will never forget...