On This Day: 18 Years Ago

I remember where I was 18 years ago today. I was working in a central secretarial area for a some executive suites. I answered phones, typed, and did other office type jobs for the businesses that rented space there. On the morning of 9/11 one of the clients who rented an office in the building came in the front door and said, “A plane just ran into one of the twin towers. I heard it on the radio”. I honestly thought it was someone with a single engine plane who miscalculated.

“That’s terrible!” I said, “Are they ok”? The woman who delivered the news looked at me and realized I did not understand the magnitude of the situation. “It was a jet,” she said.

I was stunned. There was a second girl who worked the desk with me and as more and more people came in with updates I turned to her and said, “I have a portable black and white TV at home. Do you want me to go get it?” “Yes.” she said.

About twenty minutes later we were watching it all on an 11” black and white tv.

Another of the suite renters came in as we talked about the people jumping from the tower. “That’s impossible,” he announced. “I was just there and there is absolutely no way anyone could jump from those towers. Impossible, absolutely impossible!! The media is just pumping this up.” The rest of us in the office were all silent as he explained to us why he had knowledge of this.

The towers went down. The pentagon was hit. People were… gone.

Silence.

Where were you on this day 18 years ago?

It's a Girl!

Our daughter Genette is 24 weeks pregnant and the nickname of the baby is Little Foot. (Remember that movie, The Land before Time? One of the dinosaurs in that movie was named Little Foot).  She and her husband decided to do a gender reveal party with a dinosaur theme, of course. At the ultrasound when the gender of Little Foot was discovered, they had the technician write it down and seal it in an envelope. Genette and Abe had no idea if the baby was a boy or a girl. Genette gave the envelope to her very good friend, Alyssa, and she planned the “reveal” for the party.

I have to hand it to them for having patience; they waited a week and a half after the ultrasound to get the news and Alyssa waited that week and a half keeping the secret from Genette and Abe! I’m not sure I would have able to be so patient.

At the gender reveal party, Alyssa put colored sand in two red glass bottles to keep the colors a secret. At the appointed moment, Genette and Abe poured the sand into a clear glass cube which revealed the gender of Little Foot: pink and purple for a girl or blue and red for a boy. We all counted down, “One, two, three!” and the sand flowed pink and purple.

A GIRL!! Our family is having a girl!! How exciting!

Little Foot’s story has a great beginning. I look forward to being able to tell her about the excitement we felt when we found out that she was coming into our lives.  I’m going to write it down, too, so when she is older, Little Foot will be able to read about how very much she is loved. 

I encourage you to write down your stories too and share them with the little ones in your life.

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Good Year

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The past couple of years have been very challenging and frankly, scary for this Bartlett family; things are never boring at our house. The situations we have faced have challenged us emotionally, spiritually, physically, financially… ok, in every way possible. But it all seems to be turning out ok.

Steven and I are on the way to Lynchburg, VA to our daughter Genette and bonus son Abe's house. As we were driving along Steven got my attention by saying, "blimp!" I looked up and there was the Good Year blimp resting in the sky.

Seeing the blimp served as an encouraging reminder – through it all it has been a good year. Bryon is in remission and will be marrying the adorable Amber in November, Carmen continues on life adventures, and Steven, Abe, and I have all recovered well from our surgeries, Steven also has some leads on a new job, Genette is pregnant, and we are on the way to Lynchburg to attend the gender reveal party for our first grandchild due to arrive at the end of November.

Yep, that's our story and we are sticking to it – it's been a Good Year.

The Burial in New York

Steven, our daughter, Genette, and I took a very quick trip to upstate New York for the burial of Steven's father this past weekend. William died in April and although we went up to be with Steven’s mother during that time we were not able to have the burial. This is not unusual for the north during the winter when the ground is frozen – digging the grave is difficult to impossible. Genette's husband Abe was not able to make it because of his job, so Steven and I drove to her house near Lynchburg, VA, spent the night, and we left together Friday morning to head for New York.

We got on the road about 7:30 am. According to the Garmin that would have put us in Albany, New York around dinner time. However, we had been on the road for about an hour when our forward motion was slowed down to the rate of 3 miles per hour for about 30 minutes. Then we saw it: a tour bus had broken down and was causing the delay in traffic. Once we got past the tour bus we were cruised along again until we hit another traffic jam: construction. We knew we would hit that somewhere along the route.

Back on our way and doing well for a couple of hours, we stopped for a break and some food. We climbed back in the van and ... wait for it ... the van would not start. Someone tried to give us a jump but it didn’t work. We called AAA and waited an hour before the wrong assistance truck arrived. After another 45 minutes, the correct truck arrived, and in 30 minutes more a new (expensive) battery was installed and we were once again on the road. We arrived at our hotel in Albany around 10:30 pm, tired sweaty, and ready for sleep.

Saturday morning we drove a couple of hours to Chestertown, NY for the graveside service and our final good-bye to Steven's father. The weather was warm, but the shade from a maple tree and a gentle breeze made the temperature perfect. The sky was dressed in pale blue with white clouds forming still life images.

After the ceremony, family and friends gathered at the local fire house for conversation and stories: a simple day as was proper. Another 2 hour drive and we were back to the hotel at about 11pm.

Sunday morning we set our alarm for 5:15 am and we drove to Kearneysville, WV to my niece's house for the night. As I write this it is Monday morning and we are on the way back to VA to drop off Genette. Steven and I will continue on to Charlotte, NC, so we can sleep in our own bed after a 2000 mile journey, 3 beds, and 5 days. The trip back has been smooth and we've had no traffic jams ... WHAT?!!

Oh wait, the Garmin just said there are delays ahead (Sigh)…

Well, I suppose it'll be another story to tell.

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Clothing I Pine For

Oops, I closed my eyes for 20 minutes and an hour and a half later ...

For 3 years I’ve been working on a story about the White Spruce Pine Trees on the farm where I grew up. It’s a true story and I am excited to tell it, but it is still not quite finished. I feel like it is so very close but just not quite there yet. I even bought a dulcimer guitar made out of spruce to use in the story. As I’ve worked on the pine story getting it ready for the stage I thought it would be a good thing to have something special to wear as I tell it.

I sew, so Steven and I went to Joann Fabric to find material with pine trees on it that I could use to make an article of clothing. Sure enough, we found some great fabric! I got a couple of different prints so I’ll be able to make a few different things. I am thinking a shirt and a simple dress, but I haven’t found the patterns I want to use yet.

As I sit here I think, I am pining for these clothing items. Perhaps my finished story is waiting for the dress or shirt to arrive. It’s a process: I have the story but it is not finished – I have the fabric but no pattern.

I think by the end of the year they will both come together. I’ll let you know when I get the sewing and the story done. In the meantime here’s a picture of the fabric I bought.