When it rains it pours. When I finished last week's column, I was wondering what I would be writing about this week. And this week, it seems that the options are endless.
Do I write about the Royal Wedding that seemed to take over conversation after conversation? Nope, at the time of the wedding I was heading to the airport to catch a morning flight back home, and only saw the aftermath of the event through pictures splattered throughout the magazine racks.
Do I write about the storm that took over Carlyle during the weekend that caused barn roofs to fly across farm yards, sheds to disappear, shingles to land across the street and trees to demolish vehicles? Nope, at the time of the storm I was in Lloydminster taking in some plus 15 weather.
Do I write about the Election that is taking place this week that will provide results that may change our Canada for the years to come? Nope, as our editorial deadlines are Mondays, we are yet to know the results.
Do I write about the week we just spent in Vancouver, the things we saw, people we visited, and sports events we took in? Nope, not this time.
Or do I write about the Osama Bin Laden news that rocked the world on Sunday evening and filled television screens with press releases and the United States with celebration by those that supported the pursuit? The answer is yes.
While I am yet to form an opinion on the outcome of the almost 10 year search for Osama Bin Laden, the press release most definitely quieted our vehicle as we took the news in. It was big. Big throughout the United States and big throughout the world.
There are some events that happen that we will easily forget in a couple months and have minimal recollection of in future years. But there are some that occur throughout our lifetime that we will never forget. Generations can easily be distinguished by events that show these differences. For some, worldly events such as the assassination of J.F.K., the fall of the Berlin Wall, or the first moon landing are permanently etched in their memories. For others, it is surviving the Great Depression, Pearl Harbour or the atomic bomb at Hiroshima.
Listening to the address given by President Obama last night (Sunday), took me back to Sept. 11, 2001. It is a day that I will never forget. A day that is forever etched in my mind.
I woke up that morning to the radio on and coffee at the kitchen table. There was a sense of eeriness as the normally loud banter at the kitchen table was quiet as news of the attack filtered in.
That day, I was scheduled to spend the day in the field bailing straw. My radio station was glued to CBC. I listened in horror to the events and news that unfolded during the day. A sick feeling grew in the pit of my stomach. Sadness took over for all of the people and families that had been affected by such a horrifying and despicable act.
As I listened to Obama's speech on Sunday, I felt the enormity of the news. For those individuals that died in the Sept. 11 attack, for those soldiers that had been part of this almost decade long pursuit, for those families that lived day-to-day without their loved ones and for all of the lives that have been lost as a result.
The events that rock our worlds are ones that we will never forget. They are ones that impact our days and shape our lives in future years. With a week that seemed full of endless events, this is one that is sure to go down in history.
