it's strange how much power that day still has on us. Personally I thought it had receded, at least as much as it ever would. All it took was an episode of The West Wing to bring it back with full force.

I was working in my basement office when my wife called from work. Turn on CNN, she said. Both towers had already been hit and CNN was showing the second plane turning the second tower into a fireball, over and over.

Our younger daughter was going on a field trip to downtown Chicago that day. No one knew what kind of conspiracy this might be, and downtown Chicago is not exactly a backwater, so I got in the car and hightailed it over to school. They had already cancelled the field trip. The principal asked if I wanted to take Emily home with me. I said no, it's probably better this way. I found her and gave her a tight hug.

The rest of that day and most of the next several days that followed I was either watching television or on the phone. It was a surreal time. We still didn't entirely know what was happening but we were out there talking with our neighbors. Lighting candles. There was a national moment of silence and it was observed everywhere around me.

The most profound tribute I saw was led by an Austrian-American guy named Josef Keller. He basically brought youth soccer to the north side of Chicago. That Saturday he walked from field to field before as many games as he could make. He gathered all the players, parents, coaches, referees, and spectators in a circle near the center spot to hold hands in a moment of silence. Our country had been attacked and we were all together.

PS -- My blog is on the way up. Once it's going I will post messages like this there. (Does anyone have blog tools to suggest?)