I had sent this earlier to my daughter, but have since talked for a long time on the phone. Sorry about any grammar or other mistakes...but i am in email mode. What a strange and troubling day. I didn't get much sleep last night. The dog kept waking me up every hour or two. Finally, at the 2:30AM wake-up call, Camry and I confronted a skunk in the garage. After about a half hour, the skunk was gone, but I finally had to leave the dog out because she was so excited. Of course, because of my internet monitoring, I was the individual who turned the TV on in the conference room and we were all sitting there at almost the exact same time we had been there during the Murrah building attack. We were evacuated around the same time as before. Today, I drove by the almost empty Murrah monument... with the visions I had just seen in New York and DC echoing on a giant scale the smoldering hulk I passed before. But, today -as back then - when I got on the highway almost everyone was driving with their headlights on. It seemed a spontaneous expression of people trying to establish a sense of unity in tragedy. Although there are many individuals such as the rescue workers that can have a direct impact or giving blood and providing an indirect impact, most feel helpless in their grief and concern. As I recall people were driving with their lights on for about two weeks. I also remember on that same drive home travelling through the scene of devastation left by the May tornado. Both times the community came together in a pretty powerful way. Sometimes symbols help in very concrete way. We still do not know a lot. I remember counseling my colleagues at work after the Murrah building, not to go looking for revenge in immediate anger. Already there were reports of Mid-Easterners living in Oklahoma being held. This is not a time for anger. It is a time for rescue and grief. Our friend Bud Welch who lost his daughter in the Murrah bombing can tell that tale far better than I can. I think that your candlelight vigil is an excellent start. I think that reaching across traditional boundaries is very important - college reublicans, etc. Those gestures show that our beliefs are not just political, but personal... and will eventually reap rewards. Whether, we participate in blood drives, teach-ins, or whatever.... Unfortunately, too often we act only in times of tragedy.... This is a time for action! Not reaction. Grieve. Build new bridges. Accept the pain, but act out of Love.... We will be inundated with conspiracies - political and religious - let us never forget the beliefs we hold.... and let them guide us toward the same ideals we had yesterday... and prehaps, turn tragedy into a better world.... Peace, David Slemmons