Where Were You on 9/11?

Where were you on the morning of September 11, 2001?  No doubt, you remember exactly, don't you?


I was driving by the Pentagon.  We were leaving Arlington to return to South Carolina, after taking my six-month-old nephew, Ryan, home to his parents. We spent the night of the 10th, then got up on the 11th to drive home. We had planned to leave between 8 am and 8:30 but it was more like 8:45 when we actually left my sister’s house.

As we approached the Pentagon, I wondered aloud why there were police officers everywhere and why there were roadblocks being set up on the entrance and exit ramps. People were scrambling, rushing to close of the streets.  In fact, I said that somebody important must be coming or going or doing something.

Because we were listening to an audio book, we didn’t have the radio on. Shortly, though, the cell phone rang. That's when we learned  that an airplane had crashed into the World Trade Center. Immediately, we switched from listening to the book to listening to the radio.

We continued to drive south, trying to get news and trying to figure out what had happened. Soon, we learned of the second plane attack on the World Trade Center. And then the Pentagon crash. And then the news about the Pennsylvania crash.

These were hours of disbelief, shock, horror, confusion.  This was more than the mind could fathom.

During some stretches along I-95, it was difficult to get clear radio signals, but we picked up bits and pieces as much as possible. It became clear that the country was under attack.

We felt helpless.  Perhaps out of the helpless feeling came our desire to make a statement of sorts.  We started looking for an American flag to put on the car. We were determined to show our pride in America. At the first exit, we couldn’t find an American flag to purchase. Nor could we find one at the next exit. Or the next. In fact, it took us many stops and about 200 miles to find a flag. We bought several.

As we continued the drive, people honked and waved at the flag on the car.  Within days, in the aftermath of this tragedy, there were flags everywhere.
It many ways, it was a long drive home. My son lived in Arlington and worked at the Department of Justice in D.C. I couldn’t reach him by phone. I couldn't find anyone who knew where he was for about 48 hours.

It took a while, but a much shorter time, to reach my sister and brother-in-law also. I was anxious about family and friends in New York and in D.C.

As we’ve been reminded many times lately, it’s been ten years. I remember it like it was yesterday.

Women Who Make a Difference!!!

ALL women make a difference.  Some make more of a difference than others and, sometimes, the difference made isn't positive, unfortunately. 

Today I'm writing about one particular woman who has made a tremendous difference in a very positive way. 

After church today, I went by the post office for the first time in a few days, and there was my very first issue of TOWN AND COUNTRY magazine.  Even though it's only January 10th, this is the February issue, and it features Cindy Crawford on the cover.

I quickly flipped through the pages, because I knew this issue was paying tribute to specific women who have had an extremely positive impact on others.  Finally, I found what I was looking for on page 44:

That woman is my baby sister, and she's one of my heroes - AND she's one of four women honored by Longines in TOWN AND COUNTRY as "Women Who Make a Difference."

Here's the introduction in the magazine: 

At Longines, "Elegance is an attitude."  It reminds us that grace, style, and soul are the qualities that make a women elegant.  Nowhere are those traits more on display than when a woman devotes herself to making a difference in someone else's life.  The following four women are the epitome of elegance.  They champion those less fortunate and tirelessly work to make this a better place to live.

The four who are recognized are these: 

1)  tennis star Stefanie Graf as the founder of of Children for Tomorrow, an organization which helps children and families who are victims of various kinds of violence; she is the Longines Ambassador of Elegance; 

2) Deloris Jordan, mother of basketball great Michael Jordan, as founder of The James Jordan Foundation, which supports academic opportunities and academic excellence through several of its programs; 

3) Leila de Bruyne, founder of Flying Kites, an organization which provides care for Kenyan children who have been abused, orphaned and/or abandoned; and

4) Lorri Shealy Unumb, my above-pictured hero.

And because she is, of course, my favorite honoree, I'm sharing what was published about her, for fear of doing too much gushing on my own:

Lorri Unumb is the driving force behind Ryan's Law - the single most influential piece of legislation for families living with the hardships of autism.  Lorri's son Ryan was diagnosed with autism in 2003.  Early in their journey, Lorri learned that insurance companies did not cover treatment for autism.  Lorri, a practicing lawyer, soon began her historic battle with insurance companies and state governments to get autism treatment covered.  Her first victory was in her home state of South Carolina, where insurance companies are now compelled to pay for the treatment of autism.  

Lorri has played an active role in changing legislation in other states, and today 15 states have enacted their own versions of Ryan's Law.  In 2008 Lorri joined Autism Speaks as its senior policy advisor and counsel, a role in which she supports and advises other activists in this worthy cause. 

 
Lorri and the many, many volunteers she recruited worked hard for over two years to get Ryan's Law passed in South Carolina.  Then, when it was finally passed, Governor Mark Sanford vetoed it!  Once again, Lorri and troops rallied; the House of Representatives voted unanimously to override the governor's veto!!   As of former state legislator, I know that it is very unusual for a legislature to do much of anything unanimously and almost unheard of for a legislative body to override a governor's veto unanimously.

During this same time period, she was voted "Professor of the Year" by the student bar association at the Charleston School of Law and was honored with the Jefferson Award by The Post and Courier, Charleston's daily newspaper.  All the while, she was traveling to other states to help with legislative efforts in those places AND she and Dan added to the family with Christopher and then Jonathan. 

If you ask me, Lorri should have been on the cover instead of - or along with - Cindy Crawford! 


I used to take care of Ryan a lot.  This collage shows several pictures of us together. The second photo is a close-up of Ryan a few years ago; the third is about two years ago at Jonathan's baptism, then one of Lorri and Ryan, followed by shots from the Autism Walk in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Visit http://www.autismspeaks.org/ for more information about autism.

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There's Even Some Humor in Autism Testing!

To label my nephew Christopher as precocious is an understatement. He’s also quite funny.

First, though, a bit of background:

His older brother, Ryan, who is 8, is autistic. Ryan is routinely evaluated at Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore. So are his siblings, Christopher and Jonathan.

The most recent evaluation for all three was a few weeks ago.

Christopher was in a room with the person doing the testing, while his parents and others watched from outside the room.

Christopher, just barely 5, opened the session himself by announcing, "I'm five; I know everything." Then he added, “I don't have to be here; I don't have autism; it's my brother that has autism. I'm only up here for y'all to find out how smart I am."

Of course, they continued with the testing anyway.

One question asked was, “What is an eyelash?”
Christopher answered, “I know what it is but I don’t know anything to tell you about it.”

Then he was asked what a cow is. The answer was supposed to be something simple like “an

animal” or perhaps “an animal that says ‘Moo.’”
Christopher answered that a cow is “a provider of milk.”

Christopher used to stay with me every weekend. I was disappointed that he continued to depend on his pacifier for bedtime and naps at the age of 2.

So, one weekend, we “accidentally lost” the pacifier. He had to sleep that night without it. He pitched a fit, but finally went to sleep and slept through the night.

The next day, I told him I had talked to his momma and bragged on him, telling her that Christopher was such a big boy now because he could do without his pacifier.

Without missing a beat, Christopher said, “Well, my momma didn’t understand what you were saying!”