[Raymond]

At 45 I have lived long enough to have witnessed the end of the Vietnam war,hippies,beatniks,gas lines,27 cent gas,the attempted assassination of 2 presidents,the end of communism in Europe and 9/11.
I was on a high school retreat when Reagan was shot and heard the news riding the bus back to school,we were crossing over the O K Allen bridge. On 9/11/2001 Big and I had borrowed a mudboat to scout a lease off schooner bayou. It broke down halfway back and we pushpoled a mile back to Dugas landing. Our problems were not over because the trailer had a flat but the radio also said the first tower had been hit by a plane. No one knew yet that we were under attack. After pulling the flat tire off the trailer we headed to Stellys for a plug. They have a small color tv perched by the cash register usually with the news playing. It was standing on those old wooden floors that I watched the second plane plow into the second tower. At that moment, I knew we were under attack but the true story would have to be told on our way home. I can't remember how to work an algebra problem but these memories will be forever etched in my brain. Hopefully one day I will be able to tell my childrens children what it was like when I was young.