On Sept. 11, 2001, I was sitting at my kitchen table while my nephew Nathan Dahlman was replacing our kitchen counters. My son Philip called and said: “Turn on the TV. A plane just hit one of the World Trade Towers in New York.” After tuning in, we sat in silence watching what we just couldn’t believe.

This seems like a good time to reflect on the things our country has endured over our history and now we are dealing with fires, protest, hurricanes, and more.

I recently got a call from Barb Dahl and she said she just heard from her classmate, Gwen Johnson, in Medford, Oregon. Here�...