THE MORAL OF THE STORY

Cindy Trane Christeson

‘Let all of us give thanks to God and prayerful contemplation to those

eternal truths and universal principles of Holy Scripture, which have

inspired such measure of true greatness as this nation has achieved.’

-- Dwight D. Eisenhower, Thanksgiving Proclamation 1956

Last week I wrote about a recent trip to New York. The first morning,

my husband, Jon, asked what I was going to do while he was at his trade

show.

“I feel like God is nudging me to go by ground zero,” I answered.

I haven’t been to New York in years, and I’ve never ridden subways

there by myself, but I managed to get there. It was obvious the minute I

got up to the street which direction to go. I couldn’t miss the tall

forest of massive cranes.

I walked a few blocks and headed down a street that ended at a huge

fence. I watched as it opened, letting out people and a long stream of

large dump trucks that were being hosed down. Those of us nearby stared

silently at the scene. Like you, I’ve seen all the pictures, but even as

I looked I couldn’t believe it was real.

I watched one relief worker walk slowly to a nearby van. He took off

his hard hat and facemask and shook off dust. The sliding door to the van

was open, and he dragged himself inside. He kept the door open, hung his

head down and sat motionless for a few minutes. I felt like God wanted me

to go talk to him, so I did.

He looked up at me with tired blue eyes and nodded a greeting. “I

don’t want to bother you, and please tell me if I am,” I said. “But I

just wanted to thank you for what you are doing. How are you?”

“Well, I just came out from there,” he answered. “My eyes are burning

and I’m coughing, but I’m OK enough. I’m alive. But some of my friends

and too many good people aren’t.”

His voice trailed off. I was at a loss for words.

“I know there is nothing I can say, but I am so, so sorry,” I said.

“Thank you,” he said. “What are you doing here?”

“This probably sounds strange, but I felt that God wanted me to come

here and pray,” I answered.

“That doesn’t sound strange at all,” he said. “We could use prayer,

and lots of it.”

Later I stopped for coffee and waited behind another dusty relief

worker. He ordered their largest latte, turned around and saw me.

“This is just a latte day,” he said. “The city has been great to us,

we have all the free coffee we want, but today, I just need a latte.”

“Everybody appreciates everything you are all doing out there,” I

said. “Can I buy that latte for you?”

He looked startled, but then thanked me, waved and headed back

outside.

As I paid, I reminded the woman behind the counter to charge me for

the latte.

“That’s nice of you, but forget it. I appreciate what he’s doing for

our city,” she said.

I don’t know who said it originally, but it fits to say again.

Everywhere I looked I saw ground heroes.

And you can quote me on that.

* CINDY TRANE CHRISTESON is a Newport Beach resident who speaks

frequently to parenting groups. She may be reached via e-mail at o7

cindy@onthegrow.comf7 or through the mail at P.O. Box 6140-No. 505,

Newport Beach, CA 92658.