Do You Remember?

September 11, twenty-five years ago, marked the start of three consecutive school years that began with considerable and historic disruption. Of course, that year saw the attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, which impacted our school district directly, shutting us down on September 12 and leaving us to cope with the aftermath for months, if not years.

The following October, our area was terrorized by the three-week rampage of the DC snipers. Ten people were killed, and three were wounded pumping gas, in retail parking lots, and at a school. One of the women killed lived a block from us, and she was shot in the parking lot of the Home Depot where we often shopped. Of course our students were frightened and destabilized, and it was hard to give them any sense of safety, especially because we were scared ourselves, although we tried.

The next year, on September 18, 2003, our region was hit by Hurricane Isabel. The storm brought sustained winds of up to 60 mph, toppling trees and power lines. The Federal government was closed for days, and so were our schools. Many households were without power and water for over a week, but ours stayed on, so Heidi and I had some extra time off while the cleanup began. We found an ad in the classifieds for some puppies for sale up in Pennsylvania, and the time seemed right to get Heidi the dog she'd been wishing for.

We brought our own little hurricane, Isabel, home a couple of days later. She was a great dog, always a silver lining and maybe a lucky charm, too. Because whether it was the rule of three, something else, or nothing at all, that hurricane was the last fall catastrophe to strike.