Mark Arbour

She'll definitely be back. I wouldn't sell Elizabeth short. She's the one who had Nana locked up in the nursing home all those years.

I agree with you on Elizabeth. I thought that since we were at Goodwell, it would be interesting to see things from Wade's perspective.

September 12, 2001 Goodwell, VA Something was pulling me out of my sleepy morning haze, even as I fought it. I didn’t want to wake up and face today. I didn’t want to deal with the death and destruction these attacks had caused. I didn’t know if I could keep my own emotions contained, much less deal with everyone else. JP and his group had arrived last night, and that had been bittersweet. At times like this, it was good to be around people I loved, but they were all so w

You're right about many reviewers having great points, and as usual, you do as well. I really think Wade will be fine without a body to finalize things. He has such a logical mind, that he'll be able to grapple with the Senator's demise without that tangible evidence.

Well, I have my reasons. Go check out the forums. There's a thread about this one. :-(

I think that Granger will chafe at being landlocked for too long.

I agree. Plus it's useful, when viewing a member's profile, to see how engaged they've been in the forums. I generally ignore those. Structuring visible rewards for achievements is a fundamental motivator. So setting these different levels gives people a slight boost in status to reward them for participating in various ways. People will say they don't care. Chances are that they do. I have to give whoever put the "Kitty" reference in there kudos for the blast from the past, for giving me the opportunity to take a playful swipe at Myr, and for bringing up this whole dialog. It was a good thing. My personal opinion is that the rep point levels are probably deserving of something a little more staid (and boring). Those are points you get when people like your stories or your posts, so at some level, it represents an acknowledgment of a good effort. I think that the levels for forum posts can and should be more playful, since that's the social venue (or one of them) for this site. Then again, I've been wrong before.

That was a very thoughtful and apt summation. I think you pretty much outlined how the characters would react better than I could have. I'll cut and paste this for notes.

Sam, that was well said. I think that we are going through the shock, and now the adaptation/acceptance of the thing; a microcosm of what the characters experienced.

Thank you for coming out of the closet and posting a review! That's always exciting. ;-) I sent a new chapter to Sharon to proof, and she said she was still crying, so I'm worried about the extended agony you all will experience, but I'm doing my best with it. Hang in there.

Jason,You raise a very important point, and something that I'm a little worried about. I've had that pointed out to me by another member as well. Having the family be so high-profile in the 9-11 attacks does tend to raise it out of being a proletariat issue, and into one where elite icons are killed and venerated. I really can't avoid that, so all I can do is play that part down in the stories, and allow myself some artistic freedom (license) to make that less of an issue as we go forward. I do not think that the overall US reaction to the attacks would have been different if a US Senator was killed, but I think the psychology behind it may have been.

Thanks for crediting me with being completely Machiavellian. It is probably deserved. :-)

Putting all those people in one place is always a dangerous proposition, not even taking into consideration the emotional grief they carry with them. I don't see JP going toe-to-toe with Elizabeth Danfield unless she provokes him (unlikely) or Wade asks him to (more unlikely)

Yes.

I'm so glad things are getting easier! I think this will change the family and the characters as much as 9-11 changed our society. As you noted, the real pain comes later, when the hubbub settles down, and you're left alone and lonely. :-(

Some clarification on this. Jeremy isn't a Chicagoan, and got confused between the place where Max lived (and Lark freeloaded) which was in Boystown, and the Condo JP/Stef/Marcel lived in, which was in Evanston (or close to it). Wade's made his plans pretty clear as far as school goes: he's going for Law (JD), not an MBA.

I know. It bugs me too. But I did explain this in a forum thread, so check it out.

Thanks! When you can feel the connection, I'm doing something right.

Thanks so much for getting it. I took liberties with the miracles (Stairway A), but having someone walk out of the collapsed South Tower would be pushing things more than I'm willing to do.

What an awesome review! Thanks so much! Writing stories like these is rewarding in multiple ways, but none of those ways are as rewarding as helping someone better understand him/herself. I appreciate all the reviews people leave, and while I'm not as good as commenting on past stories, I do keep up on the current ones.

Thanks for the review. I'm going to disagree with you on one thing here: there really is no one having a worse time with this than Brad. His emotions and thoughts are flying in all different directions, and it's only through his own internal strength and the support of his family that he's holding it together, more or less.

Thanks! I think it will be interesting when Elizabeth arrives. She's always good for some conflict and misery.

Thank you for your nice review! The chapters will come slower, at a more regular pace now. But they'll keep on coming, and that's good for this time of year.

I agree with you about the nation. I started reading through some of Millennium to try and remember issues with Robbie's nephews, and it was pretty depressing. Sigh. I depressed myself. That's a new, twisted form of mental masturbation.

But isn't that like real life? The shock is awful, but actually coping with the loss is what is really tough. I think the call with Frank would have been excruciating.