Better than usual

by Frank Stork

Many stories of human suffering and extraordinary human kindness have been written in the aftermath of the recent terrorist attacks on our country. One of the letters my family received put a different slant on those tragic events.

A letter written by our daughter-in-law Heather moved me to ponder things I hadn't thought about before.

I want to share some of what she wrote to our family in the days following the attacks on The World Trade Center and Pentagon. She was moved by the many newspaper and television accounts of patriotism and acts of kindness that showed the world that, "as a nation we would come together and emerge stronger than ever. We would join together to help one another in ways that this country and the world had not seen for many years."

She was deeply saddened by the attacks that killed so many innocent people and admitted she was afraid. She worried that more attacks on innocent American citizens would be forthcoming as we initiated overt military actions to destroy terrorist groups around the world.

Her letter continued, "It's a shame that it took a tragedy of this magnitude to bring us together. Since Sept. 11, we have seen and heard accounts of generosity and kindness on an unprecedented level. We have put aside gender, race and class to work together to repair the damage to our country and to help victims and their families. We have shown the world and each other what Americans are capable of."

And then she asked, "If we are always capable of these generous and charitable acts, why must we wait for tragic events to practice them?"

As President George Bush and First Lady Laura Bush help this nation heal and as we respond to their urgings to get back to business as usual, Heather has this suggestion. "I urge Americans to think of Ôbusiness as usual' in a new light. We can be an America made up of people that always practice the generous and charitable acts that we've shown ourselves capable of these past few weeks. We can and should act this way always, without question and without reservation."

We thank Heather for writing her letter to our family to help us get through these very difficult times. Also, I thank her for giving me permission to share her very personal feelings with our Rural Missouri readers.

Her message should move each of us to think about how we can, now and forever, be better than we usually are.

Stork was executive vice president of the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives and a member of Three Rivers Electric Co-op.