A Moment in Time

As I drove home today from Greensboro I was already constructing the homecoming blog entry. In fact I began it last night by making notes on a legal pad while trapped in our little pop-up camper listening to the pouring rain drench my campsite. To say the weekend was disappointing would be an understatement.

There are a plethora of things to whine and moan about. The fact that my sales didn't cover expenses let alone my booth fee is enough. My body was busy fighting off a sinus infection. My legs felt like Jello from standing on concrete for 23 hours over three days. Add to that having to load out in a monsoon and then packing down a tent on wheels in 45 MPH winds this morning you'd have the makings of a miserable weekend.

And so I left the campground this morning and made the three-hour trek home which took a bit longer because of those high winds. Most of the way I felt like I was steering a battleship with a wooden oar. Wonderful. More good cheer. By the time I crossed into South Carolina I was ready for a bathroom break and chomping at the bit to plaster my "woe is me" post into the Blogosphere.

After "resting my area" I wandered into the Visitor's Center main lobby to seek out brochures that might tell me about some South Carolina festival I hadn't heard of yet. When I entered the room I noticed a couple of folks standing around a television. No big deal. They're probably checking out weather conditions or watching a promotional video encouraging a visit to one of our state's lovely towns.

Just as I picked up the newsletter I was looking for I heard the phrase "deadliest shooting in U.S. history." I quickly joined the four people staring blankly at the T.V. Over the next few moments I learned about the murders at Virginia Tech. This was a moment in time.

My family watched Neil Armstrong first place a foot on the moon viewing a black & white television while vacationing at Garden City, South Carolina. I know the location where my family watched Richard Nixon's resignation. the evening John Lennon was killed I was at home studying for freshman college exams when I took a break to watch Monday Night Football with my father. I had just arrived for work at the office of our family's business to see the first images of the space shuttle exploding over the Atlantic. Me and Joan cried as we held our children close to us in our bed the morning of September 11, 2001.

And now I will also remember that I was at the South Carolina Welcome Center just south of Charlotte when I understood that school campuses have now become our modern killing fields. Please God, let Jessie and Ben return home safe from school tomorrow.