Five years ago today I was onboard a US Navy Destroyer heading for Bahrain, a
small island just north of Qatar in the Arabian (Persian) Gulf. How time
flies and lives change. Through the broken images coming through over our
satellite tv connection my friend, Andy, and I found out what the words I had
heard a few hours earlier actually looked like. I had been on watch
earlier in the day when someone in another part of the ship called up and said,
"Hey, a plane just flew into the World Trade Center." I remember what
came to mind...a small Cessna whose pilot had made a terrible mistake, clipping
one of the towers and falling to the streets below. A terrible image...one
that unfortunately fell far short of reality. You all remember where you
were...what you were doing. I was on my way home, via Bahrain, the
Seychelles, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Hawaii. We never made it to Bahrain,
nor any of the other ports, except for Hawaii. I can't believe how much
has happened in my own life over the past five years. So much has changed,
and the days and years keep passing.
I'm not trying to be overly dramatic here...I actually just looked at my
calendar a few minutes ago and saw the date, 9-11, and started thinking back on
things. I've been off the ship for coming up on two and a half years now
but it seems like an eternity has passed since then. I'm glad to be done
with that part of my life, but I wouldn't trade the experiences for
anything. God blessed in hardship...something I hope I will come to
understand more fully in the coming five years, and those to
follow.