SILENCE

As he walked through the rubble

He hears nothing around him

The silent pleas of those

Who lost their lives needlessly

He sheds a tear as he continues

He is numb to those around him

Only hearing the silence

That deafening silence

The destruction of the buildings

Is nothing compared to the

Destruction of his country

The terror of the hatred

Many say ignorance is bliss

If this is bliss, what is hell like?

He lost many he loved

Many he didn’t know

He tries to harden his heart

So that he doesn’t have to feel the pain

Love built this country

Love will endure

Tragedies often bring those together

Those who fought over petty issues

Evil has reared its ugly head

But faith will conquer evil

He forces himself back to the task at hand

There is a story here

A story that needs to be heard

Ignorance is no longer an option

As anger fills him from today’s events

He pushes himself harder

More determined than before

He takes a breath and continues his struggle

The struggle to find a shred of hope that there is life

He glances down and picks up a shoe

Some woman wore this today

Not knowing it would be her last day here

Day is done

He sees the support of everyone

But he knows that he must go on

He has to go on

He is shattered

He looks at all the debris

Where is the beauty in destruction such as this?

He bows his head and gives in to emotion

For once, he sees everyone come together

Like a pack of wolves stalking their prey

Stealthily and steadfast

Closing in on the enemy today

Our enemy has struck fear in us today

But he is the last one who will know fear

He has won this battle

But the world will win the war

Dedicated to all those that lost their lives and who tried to find life from such destruction risking their own lives in hopes of saving one more person

September 11, 2001

Waxing........

All hair removal methods have tricked women with their promises of easy,
painless removal - The Epilate, scissors, razors, Nair and now...the
wax. Read on.........

My night began as any other normal weeknight. Come home, fix dinner,
play with the kids. I then had the thought that would ring painfully in
my mind for the next few hours: 'Maybe I should pull the waxing kit out
of the medicine cabinet.'

So I headed to the site of my demise: the bathroom. It was one of those
'cold wax' kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you just rub the strips
together in your hand, they get warm and you peel them apart and press
them to your leg (or wherever else) and you pull the hair right off.

No muss, no fuss. How hard can it be? I mean, I'm not a genius, but I am
mechanically inclined enough to figure this out. (YA THINK!?!)

So I pull one of the thin strips out. Its two strips facing each other
stuck together. Instead of rubbing them together, my genius kicks in so
I get out the hair dryer and heat it to 1000 degrees. ('Cold wax,'
yeah...right!)


I lay the strip across my thigh. Hold the skin around it tight and pull.
It works!

OK, so it wasn't the best feeling, but it wasn't too bad. I can do this!
Hair removal no longer eludes me! I am She-rah, fighter of all wayward
body hair and maker of smooth skin extraordinaire.

With my next wax strip I move north. After checking on the kids, I sneak
back into the bathroom, for the ultimate hair fighting championship. I drop
my panties and place one foot on the toilet. Using the same procedure, I
apply the wax strip across the right side of my bikini line, covering
the right half of my hoo-ha and stretching down to the inside of my butt
cheek (it was a long strip).

I inhale deeply and brace myself....RRRRIIIPPP!!!!

I'm blind!!! Blinded from pain!!!!....OH MY GAWD!!!!!!!!!

Vision returning, I notice that I've only managed to pull off half the
strip. CRAP! Another deep breath and RIPP!

Everything is spinning and spotted.

I think I may pass out...must stay conscious...must stay conscious. Do I
hear crashing drums??? Breathe, breathe...

OK, back to normal.

I want to see my trophy - a wax covered strip, the one that has caused
me so much pain, with my hairy pelt sticking to it. I want to revel in the
glory that is my triumph over body hair. I hold up the strip!

There's no hair on it. Where is the hair??? WHERE IS THE WAX???

Slowly, I ease my head down, foot still perched on the toilet. I see the
hair. The hair that should be on the strip...it's not! I touch... I am
touching wax!!

I run my fingers over the most sensitive part of my body, which is now
covered in cold wax and matted hair. Then I make the next BIG mistake...
remember my foot is still propped upon the toilet? I know I need to do
something.

So I put my foot down.

Sealed shut! My butt is sealed shut. Sealed shut!

I penguin walk around the bathroom trying to figure out what to do and
think to myself 'Please don't let me get the urge to poop. My head may
pop off!' What can I do to melt the wax?

Hot water!! Hot water melts wax!! I'll run the hottest water I can stand
into the bathtub, get in, immerse the wax-covered bits and the wax should
melt and I can gently wipe it off, right???

*WRONG!!!!!!!*

I get in the tub - the water is slightly hotter than that used to
torture prisoners of war or sterilize surgical equipment - I sit.

Now, the only thing worse than having your nether regions glued
together, is having them glued together and then glued to the bottom of the tub...in
scalding hot water. Which, by the way, doesn't melt cold wax.

So, now I'm stuck to the bottom of the tub as though I had cemented
myself to the porcelain!! God bless the man who had convinced me a few
months ago to have a phone put in the bathroom!!!!!

I call my friend, thinking surely she has waxed before and has some
secret of how to get me undone. It's a very good conversation starter
'So, my butt and hoo-ha are glued together to the bottom of the tub!'

There is a slight pause. She doesn't know any secret tricks for removal
but she does try to hide her laughter from me.

She wants to know exactly where the wax is located, 'Are we talking
cheeks or hole or hoo-ha?'

She's laughing out loud by now...I can hear her. I give her the rundown
and she suggests I call the number on the side of the box.

YEAH!!!!! Right!! I should be the joke of someone else's night. While we
go through various solutions. I resort to trying to scrape the wax off with
a razor Nothing feels better than to have your girlie goodies covered in hot
wax, glued shut, stuck to the tub in super hot water and then dry-shaving the
sticky wax off!! By now the brain is not working, dignity has taken a
major hike and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need Post-Traumatic Stress
counseling for this event.

My friend is still talking with me when I finally see my saving
grace....the lotion they give you to remove the excess wax.

What do I really have to lose at this point? I rub some on and... OH MY
GAWD!!!!!!! The scream probably woke the kids and scared the dickens out
of my friend. It's sooo painful, but I really don't care. 'IT WORKS!!'

'It works!!' I get a hearty congratulation from my friend and she hangs
up. I successfully remove the remainder ofthe wax and then notice to my grief
and despair...THE HAIR IS STILL HERE.......ALL OF IT!

So I recklessly shave it off. Heck, I'm numb by now. Nothing hurts.

I could have amputated my own leg at this point.

Next week I'm going to try hair color......