Still bummed over the death of Baby Susan.

For my faithful readers you'll notice two additions to the right. The top one is a local clock so you'll know what time it is in my boring little world. Below it is a "Weather Pixie". The pixie may be shortlived since the time is wrong on it. (Yes I'm that detail oriented!) There is no place in the code to change the time since it locks in on a location for the weather. The location closest to me is Lovell Field the airport in Chattanooga. For some reason, it thinks Lovell Field is in the Central Time Zone. Take my word for it, it isn't. Oh well, enjoy the blonde.

From the website: www.susantorresfund.org :

In Memoria Susan Anne Catherine Torres: Aug 2, 2005 - Sep 11, 2005

With great sadness, we are asking for your prayers for the repose of the soul of 5 week old baby Susan Ann Torres. She passed away last night after surgery for a perforated intestine. Please include in your prayers a request for the peace and comfort of her family, especially Jason Torres, who has had a very difficult past several months.

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Excuse me if I can’t type coherent thoughts right now... I’m in a state of shock. I just found out this morning that Baby Susan died this past Sunday. It was shocking enough to hear that this miracle child had died but to see the cause floored me. I had surgery for the same thing almost 4 years ago. I almost died.

I never question god’s will. I’ve always believed everything is done for a reason. But why this child had to die after everything that was done to get her on this earth is beyond me. Why I was spared is also beyond me.

My prayers go out to Jason, his son and all the family members.

In the midst of mourning for the dead and displaced of Katrina, our emotions are once again slammed with September 11th. I love the age we live in with its instant information but curse it at the same time. Not only was the images of the World Trade Center brought into our living rooms that fateful morning but they will forever resurrect each anniversary.

I suppose that in one sense it’s good that we will forever be bombarded with these images. We humans have a tendency to file painful memories away. As much as it hurts us, we eventually go back to our day to day lives. Do we need to see these pictures at least once a year to remind us to stay vigilant?

......

The morning of September 11th, 2001 is still crystal clear in my mind. It was my first day of my weekend. True it was a Tuesday morning but in the job I had at the time, I was off on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The morning was like any other day for me. Right before going to sleep I had put a DVD in and put it on repeat. So in the early morning hours I had put “Forrest Gump” into the player and was probably asleep before the opening credits played. At around 9 a.m. I woke up. My plans were to shower and go for early coffee and my USA Today.

My routine varied to the point of sometimes I would turn off the DVD and watch the morning news and sometimes let it play. That morning I let it play. My wife worked 3rd shift and had already gone to bed. The TV in the bedroom was off. I showered and dressed and made my way to the door turning the living room TV off in the process.


My first exposure to the real world that fateful morning was WGOW Talk Radio 102.3 out of Chattanooga Tn. The normal cheerful sarcastic voice of Jeff Styles sounded stressed that morning. Within 5 minutes I thought I had tuned into a “War of the Worlds” broadcast. It was disjointed with Jeff, Kevin and others all trying to talk at the same time. Something about the Trade Center, hijacked planes and all the speculation of those early hours.

I kept driving and listening until I got to the store where I get my morning paper. Inside, the clerk was listening to another local station and the news was the same. It was as if the world was coming to an end. After listening to the radio and talking to the clerk for a minute, I drove to the coffee shop. The place was empty except for the workers. They too were ignorant of the happenings of the past 45 minutes and I tried my best to pass what news I had along to them.

I sat down and got my normal cup of coffee but was so disturbed that I couldn’t stay there. I got the coffee to go and told the gals that I would call them with any news I found out.

I went home. Turned on the TV. The rest is history.

Today, four years later it all came back. I wasn’t a very social person today. I went through the my routine this morning. Last night of all movies to watch I had one of the “Airport” series DVD’s in. But before leaving the house, I turned on the news. The voices this morning were those of siblings reading the names of the dead from the World Trade Center.

May they rest in peace.

To this day, I've never watched "Forrest Gump" again.