Wish I had good news about Jake, but the good news hasn't happened yet. However, I'd like to share an essay written for Tim, who has been so valient in trying to hook back up with his step-daughter's dog. Here's what his step-daughter wrote about it. It moved me, and I wanted to share with everyone who has helped and commented. It's funny how you never really see the real heroes in your life. Everyone is so caught up in this stereo-type that the only way to be a hero is to have superpowers. I've recently learned that that's far from the truth. Explain this; maybe Superman can save you from a house fire, but can he really show love and affection towards you? Let me share my story with you to show you who the real heroes in life are. I had just come home from a ski trip a few days after New Year's. Little did I know what was really going on while I was on my happy little ski trip. My mom and step-dad went to Florida with my two dogs, Jake and Lucy, while I was skiing. One night, my mom let the dogs outside into the fenced-in yard. The problem was, the fence had a hole that Jake escaped through. Everyone was horrified to find this out and searched for days and days. Jake was no where to be found. After four extra days, they had to come home with only Lucy. Once all of this had happened, only one person changed the way I looked at my loss. That would be my step-dad, Tim, and also my hero. He knew how heartbreaking this was for the whole family. So, a few days later, he skipped his full time job as a tennis coach, and went back to Florida. Tim put up posters, went on the radio, and even got a news station to do an interview on Jake for forty-five minutes. By now, everyone in Florida knew who Jake was. Search parties went everywhere, but still no one could find him. And once again, Tim came home with no Jake. Recently, Tim has gone again and been able to see him, but he was too far to snatch. We know now where he is staying, but he is too far back in the forest. Right now, Tim is once again in Florida searching for the dog I love so much. Everyday, we get closer and closer to finding him, and soon enough, he'll be rolling around in the grass again. But even if he doesn't get Jake back, I will still love him, because no one has ever done anything as thoughtful for me as that. So as you can see, here's a real hero, who instead of a cape, has Nike clothes, and traded his cool automobile for a Nissan Maxima. But I bet he could take down Superman in a heartbeat. It's not the flashy gadget and suit that makes a superhero, it's the compassion, courage, and love in that person's heart that make the true hero. And with that, all I ask is next time you're asked who your hero is, just sit down and look around before answering.

I'd be with the 7yr old and I hate crying in public. I'd go anyway. No pics allowed!! I read this while checking up on this link with snopes. Check it out! It's a true story I checked! LOL! Weary Travelers Support Operation Iraqi Freedom Troops at BWI By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2003 Nearly everyone has experienced it at one time or another: an airport bogged down by bad weather, delayed and cancelled flights, and cranky, overtired travelers wanting nothing more than to get to their destinations. That's exactly what Will Ross, an administrative judge for the Defense Department's Office of Hearings and Appeals in Los Angeles, encountered Oct. 27 at Baltimore/Washington International Airport. But what he witnessed that day, he said, "made me proud to be an American, and also told me why we will win this war (on terrorism)." Like many of his fellow passengers, Ross had been forced to spend the night in Baltimore. His outbound flight, scheduled for the night before, had been cancelled due to the California wildfires. They had forced the Los Angeles International Airport to close, and the ripple effect drove domestic travel nationwide into a tailspin. When Ross reported to the United Airlines counter the following morning for the next scheduled flight to Los Angeles, bad weather and aircraft mechanical problems made the prospect of a timely trip even more grim. As he waited in the terminal, Ross noticed many soldiers in their desert camouflage uniforms, newly arrived from Southwest Asia. All, like Ross and the other passengers at the airport, were awaiting connecting flights but in the soldiers' case, it was to begin two weeks of rest and recuperation leave. Flight delays continued and the airport had become, in Ross's words, "a zoo." By the afternoon, one flight to Denver had been delayed several hours. United Airlines agents kept asking for volunteers to give up their seats and take another flight, but Ross said they weren't getting many takers. Finally, Ross said a United Airlines spokeswoman got on the public address system and made a desperate plea. "Folks, as you can see, there are a lot of soldiers in the waiting area," the agent said. "They only have 14 days of leave and we're trying to get them where they need to go without spending any more time in an airport than they have to. "We sold them all tickets knowing we would oversell the flight. If we can, we want to get them all on this flight. We want all the soldiers to know we respect what you're doing, we are here for you and we love you," the agent continued. "The entire terminal of cranky, tired, travel-weary people -- a cross-section of America -- broke into sustained and heartfelt applause," Ross said. "We're talking about several hundred people applauding, a whole terminal. "The soldiers looked surprised and very modest," he continued. "Most of them just looked at their boots." Many of the travelers in the terminal wiped away tears. "And, yes," Ross said, "people lined up to take the later flight and all the soldiers went to Denver on that flight." Ross said he figured that 30 or 40 people had suddenly jumped at the chance to offer their seats to U.S. soldiers. That moment, he said, reinforced his patriotism and his heartfelt belief that the United States will prevail in the war on terror. "I think people realized that this fight is going to be long and drawn-out, and these kids are in the thick of it," he said. "It was heartwarming to see their outpouring of support."

I just watched this the other night and was riveted even though it was way past my bedtime! Was the name of the asthmatic secretary in the documentary Josephine Harris? If so, she and the 6 firefighters who happened upon her in the stairwell all survived. They were among the 14 people trapped in stairwell B who miraculously made it out alive after the tower collapsed. The stories sound similar - well, the part about the heavyset secretary sitting on the stairs and the 6 firefighters - but there were some inconsistencies between their story and the documentary's account. Ex. from the news articles I've read there is no mention of Ms. Harris having asthma, but she did have a bad leg from an accident months earlier which is the main reason why she had such trouble walking and the firefighters said they found her sitting alone, not with the guy in the documentary.

Well, I say "sort of" meaning it was about 17 years ago and that was the "mental note" I made of the experience, like "Oh that was not a very pleasant response to my telling you how much I admired your work . . . " but I did not make note of the exact expression he had on his face, for posterity. Perhaps because it sort of surprised me. But who knows why he treated me that way. Like I said, I was surprised that such a well known poet was wandering around a building looking on his own for the lecture hall where he would be presenting . . . so something might have been up even before I ran into him. I have no context for what a person like him has to put up with from fans on a daily basis or how uncomfortable he might have been given modern American culture is vastly different than Native American culture. In fact, Trudell writes extensively on that, which is why I was surprised when he didn't much touch on that in his talk . . . . also again, who knows maybe he just had indigestion or a headache . . . Funkyart, I have watched several movies and/or tv shows and really broke out laughing when someone leaves the rat race to take a job teaching at a college, or says they are going into teaching as a respite from the personal stress and greed of the business or professional world of some other field . . . One of the most egregious examples is the movie "The Last Time" about the machinations of salesmen trying to get ahead, starring Michael Keaton and Brendan Fraser. Good movie, but laughable ending . . . people need to rewatch "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?" as a cautionary tale . . . Speaking of reading people, somewhat OT, but years ago I was at a BAD training for adventure based counseling, and we were being constantly "debriefed" by a woman who thought she knew it all, but often grossly misread the personal and group dynamics. She was so judgemental and NOT insightful that the group of professionals started making fun of her when she was not around. Not just because of that, because of the way the people running the sessions were treating everyone, won't go into all the details, but it was one of the worst and most unprofessional experiences I have had in my field and it amazed me that these folks could even be in business after I finished the weekend course. But anyway, we were having a required debriefing session around a campfire in the evening, people were talking about things that bugged them, and one guy turned to me and said, "You look like you have a headache. Can I get you something for it?" That was the most spot-on diagnosis and counseling I got over the whole weekend!! I had a terrible headache and had run out of painkillers! At the end of the training we were gathered into a circle and we had to go around and tell about the most helpful experience we had over the training. And despite hours of sessions, I chose that as the most helpful by far. It also both bugged and mildly amused me that some of the people (and these were all counseling professionals) made up stories just to play along with the facilitator, telling her what she wanted to hear, so to speak. I knew that because they talked about doing it ahead of time, they so despised her behavior. Of course this bugged other folks too, because that was also unprofessional. But it was a great learning experience for me. As a teacher, I have to remember that sometimes, the student is just constipated or has menstrual cramps, not regressing back to some abusive event . . . and also, if you are running a training for a group of professionals who work with adjudicated youth, where you can't mess around and you have to stare down some very stressful situations to be successful, and you don't treat them like professionals and with respect, well they are going to start acting out, and they learned from the best . . . it was also bad that some of these folks were forced to go by their supervisor who was there, and they believed that their job security would depend on the outcomes of the trainings. Such a very bad set up to begin with. Really taught me how important context and prior information and real relationship is to educational and counseling outcomes . . .