You speak for all of us, Dan.
The day brings up a lot of emotion for those of us old enough to remember watching those horrible events happen in real time. For some, it may even bring back memories of friends and family lost that day and in the long years of war that followed. Too many friends gone. And many more who will bear the scars, both physical and emotional of taking the fight back to those who started it, for the rest of their lives.
The evil that unleashed the events of 9-11 still exists out there and even among us, now. The fight continues. For those of us with Faith, we know that the fight will ultimately be won and our faith brings us strength and courage even as the days seem dark. Darker, perhaps. There is still work yet remaining here in the physical world. We seem to be missing the strength and unity we had in the days following the 9-11 attacks. I would hope that here in our small, little corner of our culture, as inconsequential and irrelevant as it may be to others, we can continue to do what we've always done here -- be kind and supportive of one another. To bring strength where it is needed, even if only a kind word. To hold that evil out.
Stovebolters are a varied lot with diverse backgrounds and beliefs. But we still share one thing ... beyond just a love of these old *things* I think that we have a bond and a "love" even for each other that helps us look beyond the superficial to the meaningful in each other. Sure, we connect through the trucks, but that we gladly share with each other our knowledge, experience and support *beyond* the trucks speaks to our "better angels" and the true strength and meaning of what we can accomplish here.
Even if evil swirls around us and attacks us, even if our increasingly shallow and vapid culture looks past us seeing only a bunch of weirdos and their old trucks, we know and act better. We're still us. People who matter to each other and care. Our commonalities matter vastly more than our differences.
The evil will always be there, until that Last Day. Our friends and neighbors, not so. We should, as Dan said so well, keep that in front. Let the day serve to remind us of that.
