We were staying in a comfortable 2 bedroom apartment, I think it was the 3rd floor. The noise of traffic was louder then I'm used to at night. The air was dry and the voices on the street below were melodic.
It was March 20th 2002, Lima, Peru.
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September 11 weighed on all of us. It didn't stop us from living though; we are Americans after all. I was in Spain when the planes hit...sometimes there is nothing you can do so you have a cry, a prayer, and move forward, never back.
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Our daughters adoption was going mostly smoothly...papers notarized here and there, visits to the market and ancient sites we could only barely comprehend, places she won't remember. We were more than ready to be home, Langley VA, with our first child.
The morning of March 21 we were greeted with the news of a terrorist bombing at a mall outside the Embassy where we had spent a great deal of time finalizing paper work. 9 people had been killed and 32 injured. 3 were staff at the embassy.
George Bush was set to visit Peru that week...and he did.
We were told for our safety we would be asked to head home with our daughter; a soft evacuation, nothing crazy. We weren't worried, it was a precaution we understood...we actually wanted to get home anyway, just not that way.
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I grew up in a world that contrasted with peace. It was the 70s/early 80s. My parents had taught us growing up that we would always be targets as Americans but never worry about it (you can't change/control people, only yourself)...go about your business and keep your eyes open. Always have an alternative plan...and know the exits. I grew up in Oman; we were there at the behest of Sultan Bin Said Qaboos, to fight Communism, the Dhofar Rebellion. We were there during the hight of hijackings, we had family friends that had been on planes that had been hijacked...a few were killed. The Iran Iraq war was being played out in our 'hood', soldiers with machine guns stationed on top of our building where we lived. The Iran hostage situation was in our home as my Father dealt with the nuances of how to save them, he was Air Control.
*The story of war in my life has not gone away, not one year has been peaceful, from the way I grew up to losing friends in Iraq, Afghanistan, and suicide- A toast to you..."...These things we do, That others may live."
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...and now we have all this...our own government is ready to inflict tyranny upon its people. Watch what they do next...and if you are in the realm of agreement with them then you have learned nothing from the past. We The People, freedom or the baubles of Communism...which is held together with bloated bodies paraded around to scare people into submission. "No justice, No peace"="Peace through submission."
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"Make it your own", I used to say to my crew...they would reply, "you mean do it our selves?" Yes. That is the way to ownership and can only be done with Freedom to do so.
Be still and listen
One day I'll tell you a story
I'm grateful for Sultan Bin Said Qaboos, the British, and American governments...they sent me to princess schools.
.... and the Old Church sent us their very best to teach us...the best of all the Jesuits and Franciscans to teach us Children that no man rules us and we kneel only before God.
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