I hadn’t ever flown at the time, and I wouldn’t for at least another ten years. When that crash happened, though, it affected me so personally on so many levels. I was working at the lumber yard in my hometown. When the news came over the television there, my mother and grandmother were in Sioux City, visiting my Aunt who lives there. I had no idea whether they were alright or if anyone had gotten hurt beyond the casualties reported.

After verifying that my family was all fine, I just watched the news come in and remember the feeling that I had as I watched. It was a feeling I would only experience a few times, most strongly during the events of September 11, 2001.

A few days later, my boss at the lumber yard, who was a volunteer firefighter and EMT, was called to go and provide support at the scene of the crash. His official reason for being there was to search for body parts. It just seemed every day that something worse came up.

Sorry if my comments took away from the direction of your posting. I know that the type of jaw dropping events you were focusing on had positivity associated with them, but this brought back all kinds of memories for me and made me think about all of this all over again.

I think that the moments that bring out these strong emotions, whether they are good or bad, really are like footnotes in our lives – they help to mark imortant points and to explain some of the backstory.

Thanks for this opportunity you gave me.