9/11 and Moving Forward with Resolve -- 9/18/06

September 2001, Joseph was serving his mission in Campinas, Brasil; Dad had just completed a long trip recording Legacy and Testaments in Europe before the Olympics, and met Gloria for a short vacation before returning home. They had arranged to meet a group of former EBM missionaries in Frankfurt at the temple for a reunion. What a glorious experience. A few days later in Bokrijk, Belgium Tim and GLoria watched on a TV in a McDonalds as the twin towers collapsed. There was an outpouring of compassion, love and solidarity from everyone on the streets of Europe over the next week before Tim and Gloria returned home on their scheduled flight -- the first flight out of Frankfurt after 9/11.

Here we are five years later with so much different in the world and in our family yet so many things the same. We are having another mission reunion, at our home on the Friday before General Conference, September 29th (see http://www.mission.net/england/bristol/reunions.html for more info). We have been experiencing an outpouring of compassion, love and solidarity from everyone here, the past several months that has changed our lives forever. And now, as then, we move forward with faith and resolve.

Bill Yadeski our great friend and neighbor (and former Bishop) finished a project he took on to build Joseph a workout platform where he could do his physical therapy excercises at home. He did an amazing job. You'll see it folded up in the first photo and extended in the second. Note part of Joseph's great collection of licence plates on the wall behind. He has been collecting them from he and his dad's travels and from friends around the world. Some date back to WWII.

Joseph is fully engaged with life, enjoying school, friends and family. His classes are upper level classes with a lot of graduate students and very enjoyable. He had a barbeque here on Saturday night with a host of his friends then Sunday over a dozen family members came and brought dinner. With so many great people around it's easy to focus on the small wonders of life (see the photo of Ethan) rather than on the tragedies.