WHERE WERE YOU?

I'm sure you remember where you were on 9-11-2001.

I remember it as a day off from work. I came downstairs, made coffee, turned the TV on to Good Morning America, just in time to see the second plane hit the second tower.

It was surreal, appearing like it was a movie.

There were many questions. Who did this? Who hated the US so much to kill so many?

As the days passed we learned who, and America changed forever.

Those who are old enough, remember another event that changed America. That fateful day in December 1941.

I was born 2 months after that attack.

I often thought about how my parents felt on that day. Here they were expecting their first child, employment was dicey at the time and then Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, taking the US into World War II.

Just like 9-11, people's lives were turned upside down. Many of those killed never got to see the child they were expecting.

That event of 9-11 also took us into a war, where many more have given the ultimate sacrifice and continue to do so.

Just this past week residents living along the Susquehanna River, from Binghamton, NY to the Chesapeake Bay, have had their lives disrupted and perhaps changed forever.

The remnants of Tropical Storm Lee dumped copious amounts of rain on the many miles of the Susquehanna.

The residents in many towns and cities were evacuated from their homes, including Wilkes Barre and Kingston, PA. My two sons were among the thousands.

Wilkes Barre and Kingston are protected by a levee system. Those dikes were raised to 41' after Hurricane Agnes in 1972; she decimated both cities. This time the river rose to 42.66' but did not breech the levees because of the couple feet of leeway, but did come to within inches of the top.

There were a few tense moments when there was some leaks in Forty Fort and the flood gates in Wilkes Barre. However, heroes came to the rescue and plugged the holes.

The residents of Falls, Harding West Pittston, Plains, Shickshinny, Plymouth, and many other areas were hit hard. There are no levees to protect them, and the river was much higher than in previous floods, including Agnes, and so many more neighborhoods were affected.

Now comes the time for the cleanup. One woman was quoted as saying, "It's only material goods, we are alive and that's what is important."

That is so true, but the emotional toll of re-building the material part will overwhelm most people in the days ahead.

With the anniversary of 9-11, Hurricane Irene's wrath just two weeks ago, and now the flood this past week, it is all a bit much to take.

For all those affected by either of those three events we need to pray for them, for they will need comfort and care for many weeks and months to come.

We must also thank God, for protecting so many more from the river's wrath and that this time, unlike Agnes, there was only one death, and that was from some type of gas that entered her home. We offer our condolences to her family and friends at this most difficult time.

God Bless America. We pray He will keep our country safe from those who wish to destroy it from within and without.