Alan Jackson asked us all to reflect and never forget the events of September 11, 2001 in these lyrics of his famous song, "Where were you when the world stopped turning, on that September day?" I will never forget where I was. It was 8:30 a.m. and we had set down around the boardroom table to begin a loan meeting at the bank. One of the board members came in a little late and apologized for doing so, visibly shaken. His first words were, "Have ya'll heard what's happening?" He went on to describe the sketchy horror with little details at that time. Everyone immediately lost focus of the trivial business at hand and we rushed through the meeting, anxious to find out more about the board members brief report. David, our community president, and I made a couple of excuses to the rest of the employees and bolted for his father's house, about a mile away to catch the news on TV. His dad called while we were in route and gave us a grueling update. We couldn't get to his home fast enough. As we entered his Dad's living room, the TV was turned up a little louder than normal, with CNN reporting the horrific scenes. Our country was under attack. One building had already been hit. We witnessed the second attack for ourselves or maybe just shortly after it happened. I called home to check on my wife. She was sad. I called my kids. They were OK. Many from New York couldn't say that about their families right then. I remember a huge knot of helplessness in my gut. Banking played second fiddle in all of our minds that morning, but I had an obligation in Little Rock that I couldn't miss and had to travel. As I listened to the radio on the way there, the reports continued to paint a dismal picture of the tragedy in New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington D.C. Even though the attacks were hundreds of miles from Arkansas, I witnessed the early ripples of fear by seeing long lines at the gas pumps as rumors spread over those claiming responsibility coming from the oil rich middle east. Gas prices began rising at alarming rates, with some operators later having to return unfair profits due to price gouging. Panic. Fear. Helplessness. Although it was terrorism's finest hour on our soil, America joined hands almost immediately and dug through the rubble, exercising any racial, ethnic, or religious demons that had previously existed, showing the world that our states are indeed united. I love this land. I'll never forget that day. "Where were you when the world stopped turning......?"

¶ 9:11 PM