I Honor
A. Todd Rancke
World Trade Center

I’m certain his day probably started out like every other work day. September 11, 2001. The sky was clear, and the sun’s reflection likely shimmered all over the windows of his building, World Trade Center South, on the 104th floor, in the office of Sandler O’Neill & Partners. Do I know Todd Rancke? I never met him, which is certainly my loss. I feel as though I’ve learned a lot about this man because of the tragic event that drew Americans together that day. I hope I can do some justice in sharing what I know about Todd through the posts and memorials I read about him. On the highest level, Todd was a husband, a father, a brother, a friend. It’s evident he touched many lives well before his tragic passing on 9/11. He is survived by his wife, Deborah; his daughters, Christina and Brittany; his son, Todd; two sisters, Pamela Rancke Schroeder and Cynthia Rancke Biennmann and many other family and friends.

When family and friends heard of the attacks, and knew that Todd would be in the building, they called him to see if he was okay and to also encourage him to evacuate to safety.

When we heard of the attacks and knew his office was located in one of the Towers-we immediately called him and heard a busy signal or got connected into his voicemail. We left several messages asking him to call us back-hoping he was running behind schedule — late for work that day.

Todd was on the phone with his wife, Debbie, when the first plane hit One World Trade Center, the other tower. He had called, as he did daily, at about 8:45 a.m. to wish her and their three children a good day, and he told her about the plane crash.

I called Todd shortly before 9:00 a.m. to check on him. He described a “smoky ticker-tape parade” outside of his window. He had just finished speaking with his wife, Debbie, on the phone and was obviously aware of the plane crash in the North Tower. Todd said that he was alright and that the public address system in the building had advised that they were safe. He had decided to stay in the building. I told him to keep his head down and stay out of trouble, and with that he spoke to me for the very last time and said “thanks for thinking of me buddy.”

Deborah’s statement to those watching an episode of “60 Minutes” soon after 9/11, as she continued the search for her husband: “please find him — he’s my whole life.”

Todd had a strong impact on many during his life.

Todd was always an awesome guy, popular with everyone. I knew Todd as a Christian young man, and I know in later years he grew to become an influential part of the church we spent all those youthful years in. I remember church youth group, watching Todd play sports in school, and school student coucil. He was always involved!

I spent that summer babysitting for Todd’s two beautiful little girls, Christina and Brittany…At the time Mrs. Rancke was pregnant with little Todd. I remember the girls would be so excited at the end of the day when their dad would arrive home from work. They would always ask me if it was “the weekend yet” because that was when they had dad for a full two days…I also remember how very happy he was the day his son was born. I remember he gave his wife flowers that day and the card read “thank you for our beautiful son”…that always stuck with me. He was such a nice man and a great father.

I know he’s looking down at us and is frustrated at not being able to take our sadness away-he was such a cheerful soul. I think he would like us to remember him with a smile, and as a loving husband and father more than for his working role (although he was very good at what he did). Again, I am convinced he has not entirely left us and am comforted by it.

Todd had a teasing sense of humor that played on people’s flaws but did not generate any ill will, said his sister, Cindy Bienemann. “He could crack on you in a way without making you feel bad,” she said.

Todd was a Duke graduate, earning his degree in ‘81. Todd’s sister Pamela, also a Duke graduate, shared these thoughts about Todd - thoughts that really helped me better understand how great a loss it is that he is gone:

Duke was so special to Todd. He was married in the Duke Chapel. Our family was there for that, and to have had a wedding down there was special. His in-laws live outside of Durham, about a half an hour out, so he was able to come back to Duke quite often, and go to Chapel.

Duke was a special place. He had a lot of great memories. He did meet Debbie there—she did not go to Duke, she went to another school in Carolina. Then they met seven years later on a business trip; they were both up in Canada and saw each other again. The wedding was beautiful.

It was always a special place, to have a wedding there, and to go back and go to Easter Sundays there, and I think Todd was lucky that his in-laws lived there, he could just go back and walk around and share with his kids and go to Chapel and go to baseball games. For his children to run on the quad with their cousin—it’s just such a special place.

Debbie just told me that somebody is getting her tickets to a Duke basketball game (in New York) with the children. The kids were all telling me that they’re going to a Duke basketball game. He used to take them to that game. He was a big fan.

His sister also reflects on life without Todd in their lives.

Still, when I see things on TV, I still will sit there and the tears just come. It’s going to take us a very long time to realize that they’re truly gone. They’re young, and he was just so full of life, and with his children… it just breaks your heart to see those children. It’s just sad how their lives have changed so quickly. They’ll be okay—hopefully they’ll be okay. They would ride bikes with him, he could take them everywhere, he’d bring them to the football games, he’d bring them anywhere with them on his back, he coached the basketball, he coached the soccer… he was really a hands-on father.

Little Todd, when something comes up, I can see him wipe at his eye, and I think he’s afraid a tear might come and he can’t go there. We’re surrounding them. Debbie, she doesn’t think she can do it but I’ve told her, you can do this.

Todd was full of life. And he danced. We teased him about that, because our husbands can’t dance. His sisters loved to dance with him.

A former classmate and roommate at Duke hadn’t been in touch with Todd for awhile, but Todd’s passing left a lasting impression on him.

I somehow feel his death places a greater responsibility on me to live my life—and maybe on you, too. I now understand—really understand—that tomorrow may not come, and that what I do today needs to be done so that I have no regrets if there is no next day.

How? First, I must pursue the career, the activities, and the people that evoke passion in me. It is so easy to fall into a career, for example, that is comfortable, or begets comforts, yet is uninspiring. I was trained to achieve, to succeed, and the process of getting there was of secondary importance. September 11 and Todd’s death make that not good enough any more.

Second, I need to do more to nurture my relationships, because I know more than ever that it’s the people in my life that make it special. Todd was one of those people, but we both let things fade as we pursued career and family on opposite sides of the country. I wish I’d called.

The final realization I have is the need to make sure I’m giving something back to others. Todd gave me a lot—he was upbeat, enthusiastic, and nonjudgmental. That he should be taken away, that someone so positive should disappear for no good reason, leaves me grasping for a way to fill the void. As I look now at my two-year-old son, so excited by each day, so constantly curious, I’m reminded to do more for those around me. I have no illusions about changing the world, but rather the need to make sure I’m doing my part to make it better.

I think his thoughts hit home with me and why I feel loss for a victim of this attack that I’ve never even met.

Why did Todd not survive that day? The family and others who knew him believe that, despite being urged by his wife to escape, it’s likely the Eagle Scout chose to help others get out of the doomed skyscraper. It sure seems that how he lived likely influenced him to help others live that day. Todd was a hero, but likely never thought twice about getting others to safety.

Being so far away from the tragedy here in the Midwest, emotions were raw and people were deeply affected.

The Rancke’s pastor, Richard Kannwischer, summed up the confusion, the sadness, the grief and, yet, the hope we all had that day…

The last house I went to was of a good friend and elder, Todd Rancke. The door to the house was open and I walked into the entryway. Because I am about the same height as Todd, his wife, Debbie, mistook me for her husband. With relief she sprang up to hug me, but reality slowly crept in. She collapsed in my arms, saying, “Oh, my God! I thought you were Todd. I thought he came home! Where’s Todd? You’ve got to find him.” I have never felt more helpless as a pastor.

Todd, the husband, the father, the brother, the uncle, the Eagle Scout, the church elder, the hero…Heaven became an even better place the day Todd arrived. I can only hope and pray that God has laid His healing hands upon Todd’s family and friends so they can have some peace in their hearts. I know I cannot begin to understand their loss, but in writing this tribute to him, I have done a bit of grieving on my own…me, a perfect stranger.

I knew no one who died on that day, but it has profoundly affected who I am. I think many of us changed that day.

(more…)

WASHINGTON Scientists say more dual-sex fish are swimming in the Potomac River — and the cause may be pollution.

The fish with both male and female characteristics have been discovered in the rivers and streams around the nation’s capital. And that’s spawning questions about the impact of contaminants on the millions who drink the tap water.

Pollution….who’da thunk?

The general manager of the water-filtering Washington Aqueduct says he doesn’t think anybody has the answer right now. But he says there’s no evidence that tap water from the Potomac is unsafe.

Isn’t that what the water-filtering is supposed to do?

Scientists say humans should be less susceptible to pollutants, anyway, because they have larger bodies and different hormone systems. And unlike fish, they aren’t constantly immersed in water.

What an absolutely profound statement! I mean, who knew; we’re BIGGER than (most) fish, have different hormones and we don’t live submerged in water! What the report doesn’t say is that 100% of the fish tested were found to have extreme liberal tendancies.

I was looking back at my blog and came upon the post I put up to remember the anniversary of 9/11 last year. I remember being so full of emotion, four years after these barbaric acts. Nothing has changed this year, a year that marks the five year anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on our country.

This picture speaks volumes to me and sums up so much about what I feel about 9/11.

How do I feel about 9/11?

We aren’t safe anymore.

What will my kids see in their lifetime? Will they have freedom their whole life?

These acts mean war. GWB had it right…the road will be hard and long. This isn’t a war on Afghanistan or Iraq. This is a war on terror - a means to protect us from thugs who do not have a soul.

This was a tragic event that bridged many gaps, brought patriotism out of most people. This was an event that favored one political party. This patriotism, this unity didn’t last long enough. It seemed as though the first anniversary of these acts marked the end of this for many.

We need to get that building up in NYC. We need to do it now and it needs to be stronger and taller than the WTC buildings combined.

We are too complacent as a society now, five years later. We should show the videos of the buildings and the planes crashing in them. And the people losing their lives at the hands of these evil, vile, disgusting pigs. And we should see them frequently so we don’t forget.

We should never dishonor the lives lost this day, nor any life that is lost protecting our freedoms. People like Dumbass Nagin and Michael Moron should think twice about the harm they cause in a matter of minutes. And leave Rummy the FUCK alone…do something that makes a difference, like shoring up our borders or improving homeland security. And for those of you with your idiotic conspiracy theories - yes, the ones that presume that the Bush Administration somehow planted bombs and did this intentionally - shut up and shove your theories up your ass. You are as bad, if not worse than these terrorists.

Our troops are the strongest and the bravest human beings I’ve ever known. Their willing and passionate support of our freedoms and our country should NEVER be forgotten. Five years later, people, they are fighting for what YOU AND I take for granted every day. I can wake up every day without fretting about whether my spouse will be murdered by my government, without worrying about whether I will be raped and then slaughtered, without worrying about having to cover my hair, face and body in shame. If I want to go to school, I can…my kids have this priviledge each and every day. I can work, I can vote and I’m free to do what I want. FREE. I have freedoms that MILLIONS of people in this world will never know. And I have our troops to thank for this. I am awestruck by their bravery and dedication. And supportive of those family members who stay on the homefront and support them every day.

See this picture? What does it mean for you?

For me it means we need to step up and protect our freedom before it is too late. For me, it represents a day that thousands of people, innocent people, lost their lives for a reason that remains so unconceivable to me I cannot possibly articulate it. It means sacrifice for many, both at home and at war. But it also means resolve, bravery and patriotism.

This day, five years later, I still experience sadness, but I’m finding that I am angrier NOW than I was a year ago. There’s still much to be done and the media can’t seem to turn their ear away from the voice of dissent. A larger, louder voice needs to be heard - that of the majority of us…Americans who GET it.

So, today is the season opener for my beloved Nebraska Cornhusker Football Team!

Found this nice little gem over at Hubby’s site. It got my Husker Red blood a-pumpin’!

Jerseys? Check.
Face Tattoos? Check.
Corncobhead Hats? Check.
Pompom shakers? Check.
Munchies for the game? Check.
Sanity at the door? Check.

GO BIG RED!!!!!!!!!!

Travel myth: You can’t get from Bangkok, Thailand, to Boulder, Colorado for free.

The Roaming Freak:

“Nonsense! Just confess to a murder you didn’t commit!”

Travelnotcity Travel Myth #33: You will be anally raped in the California Penal System.

The Roaming Freak:

“Mmpph glrk oogh guggle.”

Kiefer finally gets his well-deserved Emmy. And a rotten day at the office turns out to be Emmy-award-winning for ‘24.’

Finally, Hollywood gets something right.

Well, I never did say he did it, right?

BOULDER, Colo. — Prosecutors abruptly dropped their case against John Mark Karr in the slaying of JonBenet Ramsey, saying DNA tests failed to put him at the crime scene despite his repeated insistence he killed the 6-year-old beauty queen.

I imagine there’s hell to pay somewhere. Someone has to take responsibility for the cost of dragging his sad, disgusting ass back to the U.S. One can only hope the charges awaiting him in California will be enough to get him there and to keep him behind bars for at least awhile. There’s something terribly wrong with a person to take responsibility for the murder of a six-year-old girl when they didn’t do it. I would be very worried if he was in my city. Hopefully he’s convicted and faces jail time in California. Oh, and hopefully he faces the general prison population who very well may keep him off the street.

I remember when I could hold her with one arm, how she’d fall asleep in the middle of a feeding. How her big blue eyes would look up into my face and she would light up and laugh with a giggle that only infants can make.

I can remember the first day she ate solids. The day she got her first tooth. The day she said “Momma!” The day she could go potty in the “big girl” potty and didn’t have to wear diapers. I remember the boo-boos, the hugs, the little groany sighing she does when she cuddles her face into my neck and gently rubs my cheek. I remember the day she turned 5. One day to add to the list is today. My little girl started Kindergarten.

Did I cry when I took her to “her brother’s school” today? I didn’t this morning. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t now. There are moments I just want her to be that cuddly little baby that needed me for everything - that depended on me for the most basic parts of living. There are moments when I am so proud to see her growing up to see how much of a beautiful spirit she has and how much she loves, well, everyone and everything most days. I’ll borrow her words when she’s talking about my cooking when I say “she’s a little bit of Heaven.”

They grow up so fast, don’t they? No matter what, she and her brother will always be my babies. Even when they go to their first dance, join the elementary fire patrol, [try to] borrow the car keys or go on their first date. Even when they get married and have kids of their own.

Happy first day at Kindergarten, Bug! Mommy’s so proud of her big girl!

With all of the recent events surrounding terrorist attacks, Linda reminds us of Annie Jacobson and Flight 327 - a flight in which terrified passengers witnessed what was perhaps a dry run or a “called off” terrorist act. An exerpt from Annie’s story over at Linda’s site summarizes the fear those on board must have felt:

After seeing 14 Middle Eastern men board separately (six together, eight individually) and then act as a group, watching their unusual glances, observing their bizarre bathroom activities, watching them congregate in small groups, knowing that the flight attendants and the pilots were seriously concerned, and now knowing that federal air marshals were on board, I was officially terrified.

Probably what was most alarming was the lack of response or concern of the Federal Marshals. As Linda describes:

It turns out the traveling “musicians” on their way to a gig had nothing with them to make music with. Two months prior, there was a credible warning issued about terrorists traveling under “P class visas (sports and culture), and that’s just what these men had, except, their visas were expired. Despite the fact that they were from Syria, which is a terrorist nation, no one looked close enough to discover that their visas were expired, and only two of the fourteen were questioned pre-flight, that breaks all of the rules. Despite the presence of Federal Marshals all over the airport when the plane landed, the men were allowed to leave without being searched or questioned. These men had been flying back and forth across the country several times using one-way tickets, for which they paid cash.

Annie was visited by the Feds in March ‘05 (the flight was on June 29, 2004 - a full 8 and a half months earlier) as part of an investigation of events and the apparent botching of the investigation of what happened on that flight.

Linda has great advice:

Read the whole thing now, and the next time you feel like complaining about airport security and carrying your lipstick, read it again.

My question to you. What would have happened had the same overall lackadaisical approch been used with the flights from England to the U.S.?

Yes, not carrying our precious iPods, lipsticks and water bottles aboard a flight can be a bit inconvenient. But picking up the pieces of blown up airplanes is significantly more alarming, not to mention the grieving family members who would be put in a position to pick up the pieces of their lives.

Whoa boy. I’m glad I’m not the subject of *this* story!

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A woman is suing the J.C. Penney Co. after an alleged run-in with a store mannequin that she says left her with a cracked tooth, a bloodied head and recurring shoulder pain.

Diana Newton, 51, of Westminster sued the Texas-based retailer last month in Orange County Superior Court, claiming she was cracked in the head by a legless female dummy at its Westminster Mall store.

Newton said the incident happened nearly a year ago in the women’s department, as she was shopping for a blouse. The only one in her size was on the mannequin. As a salesclerk was removing the garment, the dummy’s arm flew off and struck Newton’s head, according to her lawsuit.

On top of a head injury, she broke a molar and had to have a root canal. Sounds like this lawsuit could cost J.C. Penney Co an arm *and* a leg!

In a completely unrelated story, looks like Las Vegas has something against urine and feces even for those who don’t?

LAS VEGAS (AP) - City officials have made it illegal to sleep within 500 feet of urine or feces, but the city attorney says the new law was passed by mistake and won’t be enforced.

The new ordinance makes it illegal to “knowingly establish” sleeping quarters near defecation unless that “deposit” is made in an appropriate sanitary facility. It was passed unanimously by the Las Vegas City Council as part of a bill making it a misdemeanor to go to the bathroom in public.

City Attorney Brad Jerbic says the council will consider a revised version of the ordinance that shortens the distance between sleeper and deposits.

In the mean time, I think it would be rather shitty to have to write someone a ticket for this!

Well, well, now the time is come for all good smelly hippies to come to the aid of their international community.

There were no signs of further clashes, but the flare-up underlined worries about the fragility of the cease-fire as the U.N. pleaded for nations to send troops to an international force in southern Lebanon that is to separate Israeli and Hezbollah fighters.

Why, we have a vital peacekeeping force able to serve in this dire time right here in America. Some of them are at “Camp Casey,” some of them are marching in San Francisco, some of them are marching, well, wherever in the hell they march.

Thousands upon thousands, on a regular basis, get out and burn American and Israeli flags, and threaten counter-protestors, and destroy property, in the name of Peace.

I call on Kos, and Atrios, and Jane Hamster, and Arianna Huffington, and Deb Frisch, and Noam Chomsky, etc. etc. ad nauseum, to exhort their bloodthirstyless hordes to do what’s right in the name of Peace.

Get your chicken asses over to southern Lebanon and do your duty for peace, justice, and the Leftist way. The United Nations needs you. NOW!

CP @ VAM, MM, MVRWC, JR, TDPB, HMF.

Following crime cases pretty regularly, the news in the JonBenet Ramsey case was quite a development.

BOULDER, Colo. — A former schoolteacher was arrested Wednesday in Thailand in the slaying of 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey — a surprise breakthrough in a lurid, decade-old murder mystery that had cast a cloud of suspicion over her parents.

Ramsey family attorney Lin Wood identified the suspect as John Mark Karr, 41. Federal officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the name, and one law enforcement official told The Associated Press that Boulder police had tracked him down online.

Wood said the arrest vindicated JonBenet’s parents, John and Patsy Ramsey. Patsy Ramsey died of ovarian cancer June 24.

“John and Patsy lived their lives knowing they were innocent, trying to raise a son despite the furor around them,” Wood said. “The story of this family is a story of courage, and story of an American injustice and tragedy that ultimately people will have to look back on and hopefully learn from.”

It truly is a shame that the press was hellbent on vilifying John and Patsy Ramsey in the public eye. I wondered a number of times today whether Patsy would have faced her cancer diagnosis with a stronger will had she and her family’s reputation not been muddied publically so long.

I can’t help but wonder.

I hope the media can figure out that their role should be to report news, and not try and convict people in their news stories. Well, one *can* hope, right?

Now I have to admit that I do my fair share of partying…..but a THREE DAY RECOVERY? Take another aspirin, suck down some Pepto and get back to bloggin ya wuss!

Please go read Hubby’s post on the Nebraska Blog Bash.

Let’s just say he took the words out of my mouth and that I’m lazy because I’m still recovering!