Another Hero Gone

Yesterday began as a normal day with a large to-do list, yet here I was flying to San Diego.  Airport security was tight, lots more police, officers with dogs.  I knew September 11th had kicked things up a notch

My mind went back to September 11th, 10 years ago.  My sister had called me and told me to turn on the TV.  In horror I watched the images unfold of unfathomable scenes.  I called in to work and told them I would not be in, they wondered why I needed to stay home when this was happening in New York.  My answer was simple - my parents were still in the air.  The hours were agonizing as my family tried to find out where my parent's flight was. They were coming back from a trip to Hamburg, Germany.  They were diverted to Canada.  No one told them what was going on.  All they knew is they landed, their luggage was checked and sniffed and they were put up in a resort.  I remember my mom calling me to tell us how beautiful her room was. We told her to turn on the TV.  Days later they would be dropped off at the airport in Chicago.  My dad would decide to drive back to San Diego.

That is the kind of man my dad was.  He saw a problem, quietly examined all the possible solutions and then moved forward.  He could make a gadget to make a job easier like no one else.  If he had patented any he would have been a rich man.  I remember when he was building a swing set in our backyard.  When we discovered the slide was in the wrong place, he figured out a way to build it reversed. My dad was a marine, a problem solver, there was nothing that would stop him - until he was diagnosed with cancer less than a month after September 11th.

On my flight yesterday, I had the same feeling I did when we didn't know where they would land. The ominous feeling of when would we know they would be safe.  I shared this by my dad's bedside today as we sat holding his hand, waiting for God to call him home.   I said this time he would land some place much better than Canada.  This morning at 11:45 a.m. the feeling went away.  He was safely in God's arms - he was home.  It was not a coincidence that today God would call him home.  September 11th is a day I will remember  for losing another hero - my dad.

2 Chronicles 20:12 "Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”