My Portfolio

The stock from which my family evolved was mostly Southern and most of them had little or no formal schooling.  But imbedded in the gene pool they created were genes that came to the fore in a very pronounced way in my Dad's personality.  Two of those genes could accurately be...

DESCRIBE AN AMAZING COINCIDENCE THAT OCCURRED WITHIN YOUR FAMILY Click HERE to create your story * Click HERE to learn how * Click HERE to trigger memories and ideas Read some member stories from last week's "Pride" topic: When I was growing up, school was challenging for me, especially math, and I would...

My wife and I were sitting in our living room when our youngest son called and told us to turn on the TV.  We watched in stunned disbelief as fire and smoke billowed from the first-struck tower and then in complete incredulity as the second airplane hit the other tower.  We...

We were living in Houston in 2001.  Thinking our stay there would be brief, I temporarily stepped outside my profession and took a part-time job at a nearby travel agency. I had been an agent years before and thought it would be fun and good for a few travel perks. On the morning of...

I had been traveling with a group in Austria on a music tour.  The flight from Vienna was delayed due to a thunder storm.  Hence we missed the flight from Amsterdam and the one in Detroit to Columbus.  We stayed over night in Detroit arriving in Columbus on Sunday evening, September...

I really don't remember where I was on 9-11.  I just remember a feeling of incredulity looking at the buildings on fire.  I kept thinking, "There will be a lot of injuries."  But there were none.  It was eerie and sickening to think of all those people just gone.  Everything that...

I look back at 9-11 and sometimes wonder why we want to honor a disaster.  Why do we want to give credit to the power and damage the terrorists caused Americans that day? I have three sons and the fear of having to send them to war terrifies me. When they...

It’s amazing how genetics passes down your looks. My son looks like me and I look like my Dad and so on. You start to wonder how far does this go on. I know for a fact it does go on for awhile in my family.   This is Charles William...

I was having a cup of coffee, with my husband Tom, in our living room and watching the television, when breaking news came on. Katie Couric and Matt Lauer were telling us over and over when the first plane hit tower 1. We immediately called our sons, Justin and Tyler and...

I've written my accounting of where I was on 9-11. But, this morning I sit with Christine watching the build up to the 10th anniversary ceremonies at the three historic locations. We spent the evening last night watching beautifully produced documentaries about the attacks. I had to write this because I...

Mum died just 3 weeks after her 60th birthday in 1979, and like all who preceded her, she took the facts about her life with her. Both of her parents had died before her and she was an only child, making it very difficult to find out more than bare facts...

Brad Hill was the GM of LTA Media, my marketing company on 9-11. He was on his way to Los Angeles to meet a new client, flying at 30,000 feet above Memphis, Tennessee when he heard the strangest announcement over the intercom. The pilot said they had to land immediately and...

The day started out like most school days.  I got up early and had a good breakfast, and did my fifteen mile commute to Centennial Middle School where I taught eighth grade integrated science.  But this was not a normal school day, for the students were not at school.  Provo School...

 My brother and I started an off-road apparel company called Dirty Left Elbow and at our first event to launch the company we chose a charitable event called Rocktoberfest over in North Carolina.  It was in November of 2009.  We, along with all the other vendors, were supposed to only donate...

I remember thinking as I drove to the downtown school where I taught court reporting, what a perfect autumn day it was, a cloudless sky on September 11, 2001 in Columbus, Ohio.  That morning I was assisting the head teacher as we read Q&A for high speed students preparing for graduation.  Around 10:30 that morning a member of...

Jimmy was the oldest of 10, I was second and then there was a twin girl and boy, Joan and Johnny. Johnny is and always has been the funniest sibling of the family. Everyone looks forward to reunions with Johnny because of the unexpected hilarity that is bound to take place....

My parents were in control of what movies I was allowed to see! No scary ones were allowed, so I saw love stories and musicals. These were the days of great MGM spectaculars with loads of girls in colorful costumes dancing down stairs as the main character entered last. There realy...

  My great-great grandmother Susan Barton Lutz was born in 1838, the year Queen Victoria was crowned Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. Ladies wore their hair in ringlets while indoors and covered with lavishly trimmed bonnets when outdoors. Dresses were designed with sloping shoulders, full sleeves and full skirts often...

The Week From Hell – September 2001 Perhaps those of you living in the USA might wonder why the week that included the infamous 9/11/2001 should resonate so strongly with an Australian woman living in Adelaide at the time? However, that week is indelibly etched into my consciousness very clearly, with...