Franklin County, Nebraska

For Another Day

All day long I have searched my mind on what to write concerning the events of this past week.

What do I say about the terrorist attack on our nation? I even considered not submitting an article for publication this week, but at the last few hours of the day I sat at my computer reliving what I have seen for the past three days on the television. We all have so many questions and even if we listened to all the news sources for 24 hours a day we wouldn’t have enough answers.

I have always believed I was safe here in the middle of Nebraska and I still feel it’s the best place to live. Can you imagine the entire population of Kearney walking in and out of one building daily? When we lived in Denver, CO, before moving to Bloomington, I used to go to downtown Denver daily as I rode the bus back and forth to work at Wards Department store. Every day I waited for the change of buses in front of the State Capitol building. I felt free to go shopping at Woolworth’s around 16th street. My sister-in-law and dear friend, Ruth Turner worked at Prudential Insurance Co. among the high rises. I would take the bus and meet her for lunch. We would sit at the Woolworth’s food counter and many times we walked to that busy area to shop at the Denver Dry and other high class stores filled with expensive clothing, fur coats and every kind of shoe a young woman could want. I was just about 18-years-old then and so naïve. I never thought twice about walking by the Denver Mint and on to the tall skyscrapers all by myself.

I looked at those people of downtown Denver as rich and chic and at that time I thought it looked like the place to be. I remember the newspaper boys on the corner of the Capitol Building yelling and selling their papers to the passing people and to people in cars waiting for the traffic light.

At that time in 1962 a person was pretty safe to be a part of the fast growing town of Denver. But now in 2001 it’s been years since I have gone to 16th street. With Denver’s growth I would no longer feel safe among its even greater skyscrapers. People in Denver and suburbs rarely go to that downtown area.

I even thought a few years ago it would be fun to go there and rent an apartment and live in town where the lights never go off; and I have even longed to see New York City. I longed to go to Staten Island and see the Statue of Liberty, go to 5th Avenue, Central Park and Time Square. I even go to a site on my computer and watch the people on the street walk by, almost live, at Time Square. It’s neat to see the hustle and bustle from the convenience of my upstairs office while all is dark outside my window. People everywhere, buses going by and so many cars on the streets. All of these people going somewhere.

When I voice my wish to see New York City I find I am alone in this wish for not too many acquaintances I know want to go with me. I have seen large cities of Denver, CO., Chicago, IL, Dallas, TX, Charleston, WV, Portland, OR, Las Vegas, NV, Reno, NV, Tallahassee, FL, Tucson, AZ, Phoenix, AZ, Lincoln and Omaha to mention a few. Most of these places I have had the pleasure of seeing in all the glamorous colors shining at night. There is something about the lights and the busy activities. Even at a late hour there is someone on the street. I think at a young age that was a comfort to me, someone always there even if I didn’t know that someone.

After Tuesday’s terrorist attack on that grand city of New York, I think I will wait a while before I try to talk someone into going with me to visit the place Frank Sinatra loved to sing about. Probably not one of those people entering the Twin Towers would have longed to live in Franklin County, NE or would have even wanted to visit here. But I am here to tell you and anyone, today in my mature life I find all the comfort I want here in the Cornhusker State of Nebraska and I know for sure after this tragic act of violence, our quiet lifestyle will begin to look even more inviting to those who have to live and work in the large cities of America.

My heart is full of compassion for those people in New York City and Washington D. C. and my heartaches for the families that have lost loved ones. Over and over I watch the plane hit the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, then they collapse to the ground and each time I see it happen my breath stops for a while. I see the people dressed in business suits, covered with dust running for their lives. This must have been a humbling experience for them.

I try to imagine what if it was I. What if we had only a minute to tell our families’ good-bye from a cell phone? What if we looked out the window and saw a jet plane-heading straight for us? What if we chose to jump out the window from the 80th floor to avoid the extreme heat? What if we were covered with rubble and didn’t know if we would be found? What if we were so driven by a cause we would be willing to die to make a statement? What would we think or do?

Tuesday I heard the word prayer many times. I heard the members of Congress join in the song God Bless America. My family and I gathered together at the Maywood Methodist Church for a prayer vigil Tuesday evening, as many people did all over the nation. Prayer was the only thing we could do. Asking the Lord for help and mercy was the best we could offer our countrymen. I felt an inner sense that we were doing the right and only thing we could do as we all stood on the front steps of the quaint church, at dying daylight with our lighted candle in our hand, whispering our silent prayer. Then we rang out the church bell to proclaim to the little town of Maywood and to the world we are proud to pray for peace among all countries and nations. Prayer is all we could do and trust the Lord to take care of the rest.

For the Lord say, Because he loves me, I will rescue him;

I will make him great because he trusts in my name.

Verse 14 of the 91st Psalm

Rena Donovan, For Another Day.

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