Does anybody remember it’s been five years since the Twin Towers came down? (kidding!) I’m not sure the best way to commemorate the occasion. I didn’t have a connection to anyone who died that day and am skeptical of politicians who try to use it to promote their own agendas.

I remember vividly that we had a rare fall trip planned to Kawishiwi Lodge, in northern Minnesota, a few miles from the Canadian Border. Our week there started a few days after 9-11, when there was still a great deal of uncertainty and disbelief in the air.

It was a great place to be – to connect back to basic things – trees, water, and family and far enough away from everything to lift some of the veil of uncertainty away for a while.

We stumbled across a description of our kids that week written by someone else this summer. Each cabin has a journal where guests can record their thoughts and experiences for the future guests to see. We usually stayed in the same cabin until we switched this year to an adjacent cabin. We remember an older couple staying in that cabin the week of 9-11 and hoping our young and boisterous children were not ruining this older couple’s peaceful week in the wilderness.

Imagine our surprise when Claire was reading through all the comments and figured out the comments written in the journal were about her five years ago! The sentiments were very sweet, the couple remarked about current events, juxtaposed with the joyful sounds and actions of the children next door, who they evidently eyed with gratefullness at their joy and happiness at a time when the adults were not. It was rather sweet to think of this couple getting joy from our kids, when we thought they might be annoyed!