9/11/08 - What a day!

On the morning of September 11, 2001, I woke up to a very lovely "Good morning sunshine!, Happy Birthday!" from my lovin' man. What happened after that is now indelibly etched in our memories and heartfelt by the world. 9/11 as we now know it to be, brought so much pain and sorrow, and then a rallying of a nation to stand up, look around, share love and patriotism, smile at a stranger, visit a neighbor, fly OUR flag, shed a tear or more. That day my birthday took a backseat to all that was sadly horrific, and all that we now recall as evil at it worse.

Each September 11th since, I have been able to witness first hand at the school I love, that I work at, a heartbeat of gratitude of appreciation and loyalty that permeates through all that are privileged to participate. Today was such a day.

We invited the Governor, our congressman, each branch of the armed services, the firemen, police, ambulance service that do their amazing jobs every day, to come and let us thank them for all they do to make sure our freedoms are preserved each day that we live. The Governor sent his best wishes, but had a full calendar(probably something about a budget or something) . The congressman sent a representative, and each of the armed forces were represented. We were able to sing their songs of duty, and applaud them for their sacrifices. The students in each one of the classes made "Thank you" cards and presented them to our honored guests.
This gentleman Johnny Griffitts, in Civil War attire, sang our National Anthem, and shared that he wear this uniform to represent all that is wonderful in our past and present as our great men and women sacrifice and serve . He is a Viet Nam Veteran, and proud to be an American. So touching. Our own Landon Luko, a blind student who was the only survivor of a set of triplets, sang "Your a Grand Old Flag" and touched our hearts and wet our eyes.

My good friend Sue Goudy who I work with, proudly stands next to her son, Officer Jason Goudy of the Corona PD. Jason grew up in Corona, and came to Victress Bower as an elementary school "ambassador" and was a peer tutor and volunteer working with our students. He has a love for our kids. His momma is so proud of the man he has become.

What an amazing experience. As year after year our staff and students come together and unitedly stand and say "I'm Proud to be An American".