On August 6th I flew in to Dallas for a national training session on Relay For Life. I arrived at the hotel 3 hours early and, since it was so close to Dealey Plaza, I walked over and stood at the spot where JFK was assasinated. There was the book repository, to my left was the grassy knoll. What a humbling experience that was. For many Americans that memory will not go away.

Now we have the date Sept. 11th that we will remember forever. 911....what an ironic number. For the first time in our lifetimes (unless you remember Pearl Harbor) the U.S. was under attack. It was here on our mainland and directed toward our way of life. Living in the U.S. we had become complacent - we have two benign countries (Canada to our north and Mexico to our south) - at our borders, but the rest of the world is "over there" across vast oceans. We seem protected here from the rest of the world. But we learned on that day that we are not.

We are surrounded by heroes every day.....police, fire, and EMS....who walk toward danger and not run from it, so that others may live. These are remarkable people whom I've worked with and around for almost 40 years. Thank you all for taking the time on Sept. 11th to reflect on how lucky we are to have them there when we need them.