Author Archives: Mary Etherington

Connie’s Trip To Shanksville, 9-15-21

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You all remember that Shanksville, PA was the site where Flight 93 crashed on 9-11. What you may not know is that Connie and Roy’s cousin, Tom Burnett, was on that flight and was part of the group of passengers who said “let’s roll!” as they stormed the cockpit to take over the plane.

Tom’s cousins met at Shanksville for the very moving tribute by George Bush last Saturday. Here are some photos and notes from Connie.

5 of the 8 cousins
On Thursday evening Larry Jacobson carried Tom’s luminary
An artist did portraits of the 40 passengers and flight crew. They were placed beside the flight path at the museum.
The site from the rock, through the wall, to the museum.
This is taken from the museum. It is lined with the “wall of names” and then out to the rock
This is called the “Tower of Voices” – 40 chimes representing the 40 passengers and crew. It was quiet when we were there but like Iowa it is usually windy and creates music.
Madison, Halley, Anna Clare – Tom’s daughters and Deena, Tom’s wife

Connie told me about their trip – she is so glad they went as it was a moving tribute to Flight 93. Last Friday night NBC had a super one hour program about the families of those on Flight 93 – the reactions and shock that registered with all of them when they realized their loved one wasn’t coming home.

A Few Details, 9-13-21

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I never did tell you about the music at the funeral last week. While people were arriving a CD of The Music Man played – Ken was quite the music man himself. With 5 minutes left before the service started I played “I’ll Fly Away” and “When We All Get To Heaven”. The family requested happy upbeat music and I was pleased I could find music they approved of. There weren’t as many people there as was expected but it was a lovely service. The music went fine but I missed Margaret.

Reader quilts:

I love this white Playhouse Pumpkin – I want to copy it!

Send me photos of your quilts to post on the blog! We all love the quilt show, don’t we?

Sunday, 9-12-21

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It was such a beautiful fall day – warm, sunny, and no wind, something that all Iowans appreciate because we get so few calm days. Connie will be writing about their trip to Shanksville, PA for the memorial service.

This was the highlight of our day – fun in the barn. Hazel was living her best life as a Jack Russell Terrier – digging under the broken cement floor in the barn.

Did you know that JRTs are pulled out of holes using their tail as a handle?

Telly played backup. And tonight Hazel had a bath! She wasn’t going to sleep with me looking like a mudball!

Reader quilts:

Remember Penny?

This is red twig dogwood that I grew in a pot from branches purchased with my spruce tops last Christmas – isn’t it beautiful? Those red veins through the leaf are lovely. It will soon be time to buy spruce tops and red twig dogwood branches again.