The week begins. This is a different week. It is a time to reflect back 20 years. Saturday will be the 20th anniversary of 9/11. I think I will reflect back upon that time and the changes that have been made since then.
The week began like every week. The kids were back in school. The weather was typical fall weather. Sunday and Monday were days that went like it did every year. Penny and I and the kids were living in Ferrin, IL. I was serving Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Ferrin. It is a small town, about 50 people. We had the church, with the school building (that had closed in the 70s and we had reopened with a preschool), the elevator, fire station and then the houses. It was a great place to raise a family. Just across the street from our house, which was the parsonage next to the church, was the dairy farm. We loved hearing the cows lowing, and smell the sweetness of the silage. Yes, there was the issue of flies and the smell of that which the cows leave behind, but it was a good place to live and minister. The kids loved it there. They could play in town without us worrying about what was going to happen to them. They enjoyed their life in Ferrin. We did too.
That week was special. It was the first cooking of apple butter. Now if you don't know what that means, it was a special time. There would be 5 big copper kettles of apple butter cooked. I don't remember how many apples it took. Members would get together, sit in the church garage, and sit around in a circle, peeling and coring the apples. There would be those with the apple peelers, spinning the apples around, putting them in buckets, only to have the others core them and place them in other buckets. It felt like a celebration to spend that time with the folks. So Sunday and Monday were spent getting things ready. It wasn't cold. You could sit around without a jacket. That would change the next week for the second cooking. It was amazing that in one week the weather would change in that one week. It cooled down and felt like fall.
But that week started clear and warm. Monday the kids went to school. Penny was helping in the preschool. Little ones came and went. It was a joyous time. We lived close enough to St. Louis that you could hear the planes coming in to land in town. It was about 1 1/2 hours from St. Louis. So they were still high enough that you couldn't make out what type of plane or airline it was, but you could hear them going over regularly.
Tuesday morning came with all the joy of apple butter cooking. The folks showed up at sunrise, to gather the wood together, and the fires were started under the frames for the copper kettles. Five kettles, each owned by different families. After the fires were started, the kettles would be put in place, filled with apples, water would be added and the day would begin. It was fun.
The kids would go out before school and join with the folks that were cooking. They would laugh and talk with the folks. Someone would bring donuts, and we would all enjoy a donut. The smell of smoke filled the air. It was a pleasant smell. One that brings back such memories even now. The sun was rising. The sky was clear. Soon the blueness of the sky really show itself. A calm day. It was going to be a warm day. OK, it was hot for September. No need for jackets. As the sun rose higher and the day went on, it would feel downright hot.
Time came to take the kids to school. I was helping out at Trinity Lutheran School, Hoffman, IL as they were vacant. The kids went there for school. Lutheran education is wonderful. I was teaching the 7/8 grade confirmation class at the time, all during the school year, as they would get a pastor at the end of the school year. So we packed up, and headed for school, 7 miles away. A wonderful drive through the country with Rach and Matt. Penny was teaching in the Preschool at Ferrin. So she was over with the children in Ferrin and we were in Hoffman.
Because of apple butter cooking, we didn't spend any time with the news. So as we arrived at Hoffman, a 10 minute drive/parking/entry into the school. As we walked into the school, someone said, "A plane has hit a building in New York City. It was the World Trade Center." I didn't know what the towers were. It must have been an accident. How terrible. We talked a little about it. But none of us knew what was going on. A plane had hit a building. There was smoke, fire, the unknown.
Then I went into the classroom and began to teach confirmation.
To be continued...
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