Change of plans

By Nancy Bode: My husband (a Rockwell engineer) was scheduled to go to a trade show in New Orleans on the 12th, so he was home the morning of the 11th getting ready to leave. He came into the room where I was and said, "You have to come see this, NOW."

We watched in shock, and then the phone started ringing. He went into work to find out what was going on there, and when he came home he said the trade show had been cancelled. We had been planning for me to join him in New Orleans toward the end of the trade show, because it was my birthday and we were going to spend the weekend down there. Since we could no longer do that, we started looking for other things to do.

We found a rental cabin in Door County, Wis., right on Green Bay, and decided to drive up there for an extended weekend. We also managed to get tickets to the first Monday Night Football game after 9/11, the Packers vs. the Redskins. We had a wonderful weekend, and the game (which happened to fall right on my birthday) was the highlight of the trip.

The stadium handed out cloth American flags to everyone who came to the game. When the Packers came out of the tunnel, the leading runner was carrying a large American flag on a pole, and the entire crowd got to their feet and cheered. When they played the national anthem, a giant flag was opened on the field and both teams surrounded the flag.

It was a very uplifting experience, and since it was the first Monday night game after 9/11, it was a particularly special event. We still have the flags from the game, along with our wonderful memories.