Let’s say someone you know gets a huge kick out of singing along with Charlie Daniels and his band while they tell a strange but great story about a boy named Johnny beating the devil in a fiddling contest.  Maybe this person enjoys the ditty so much that she’s been able to sing every single word right along with Charlie since high school.  And let’s say that when it came on the radio today she was SO excited to hear it, because it had been a long time; but she still remembered every word.  Now let’s say that this same person, whom you MIGHT know, couldn’t finish singing said song because she got all choked up and teary-eyed in the middle of the chorus.  Choked up during “Devil Went Down To Georgia” y’all!!!  Come. ON!!!

Would you say that person was having some serious hormonal imbalances?

I would.

I had no intention of watching the 9/11 stuff on TV, or doing much of anything that would make me think too much about that day.  It may be an immature response, but right now I don’t especially feel like setting myself up to cry and be sad for the 10th year in a row about this.  My 91 year old grandfather passed only 10 days ago, and we just got back from his funeral on Wed.  I am still thinking about him, my grandmother, my mom, and the rest of us.  (More about Grandpa in another post.)  So I didn’t really want to cry some more.

I have not forgotten.  How could a person forget?  You don’t.  You add it to the list of things that answer the question: “Where were you when…?”  (“…the Challenger exploded?”  ”…the OKC bombing happened?”  ”…Kennedy was shot?” {if you’re old enough}  etc.)  I’ve talked to the kids about it today and everything.  I’m not trying to ignore the anniversary, just trying to mitigate the pain/ discomfort.

And then I saw on someone else’s blog a video of Alan Jackson singing “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?”  I knew better.  But I watched it anyway.  Whoever wrote that song (Jackson, or someone else) captured so many of the emotions and responses people had that day and in the days following.  Such a good song, and beautifully written.  In case you’re wondering, I was “teaching a class full of innocent children;”  and yes, that line gets me every time.

So I’ve done it to myself, and I know it.  But I’ll tell you this: no matter how much I like the song, I am NOT going to look up and watch a video of Garth Brooks singing about how the world will not change him.

Maybe I’ll leave that for next April 19th.