“…well, I do voices…”

This isn't going to be just another Robin Williams tribute.  But if you're over hearing about the man, please move along…

When I was a child, I was fascinated by "The Chronicles of Narnia" series.  I loved the idea of a magical world brought to life with each turn of the page.  I have read the series over and over again.  In fact, I recently downloaded digital copies of each because my physical copies have been replaced time after time after such heavy use.  I read over the last week that Robin Williams read "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" to his daughter and she requested he not do the voices.  She wanted him to just read it.  I can hear him reading it now.  The roars of Aslan, the scary voice he'd choose for that of the White Witch, the sounds of swords being drawn.  Maybe next time I read it, I will think of the voices he may have used.

I didn't know what a BlackBerry was.  I didn't even own a cell phone. I didn't have a Facebook, Twitter or a MySpace. I had a Xanga. I'd never heard of a text message but I used AIM religiously. I was in Civics class freshman year of high school when Dr. Melnick, our principal at WRHS announced the news. My dad drove me to school in his brand-new Chevy S-10 and I worried he'd never make it home from the Base. John Ritter was alive, for exactly two more years.

I remember the announcement made by Dr. Melnick and the words she spoke, with such grace and warmth. She asked us to pray for our country and we watched the news, even though we weren’t supposed to…

I was not yet 15 but I grew excited by the minute for two weeks later I'd get a learner's permit, a cable modem and a CD burner. I was involved in my first One Act and played the part of Louie in a play about Catholic school students.

But for a moment those things didn’t quite matter as I struggled to understand but knew all too well that this wasn't just some cruel nightmare.  It was real life. I remember the pain I felt in my chest and stomach when I watched that first tower fall. I turned to a friend and said, "Oh, my God..." I remember my science teacher saying she couldn’t watch anymore and turned off the TV. I kept hoping we’d watch more, because I wanted to know why. Why it happened. Why this was happening to us. The U...S...A!

I remember Frank Ash telling me we should sit near one another at lunch and organize a prayer team. I remember wondering if school or our lives would ever be the same. School returned to normal by the next week, but my life and the lives of everyone in America would never be the same.