On Monday we emailed jokes.  On Tuesday we did not. On Monday we thought that we were secure.  On Tuesday we learned better. On Monday we were talking about heroes as being athletes.  On Tuesday we relearned who our heroes are. On Monday we were irritated that our rebate checks had not arrived. On Tuesday we gave money away to people we had never met. On Monday there were people fighting against praying in schools.  On Tuesday you would have been hard pressed to find a school where someone was not praying. On Monday people argued with their kids about picking up their room. On Tuesday the same people could not get home fast enough to hug their kids. On Monday people were upset that they had to wait 6 minutes in a fast food drive through line.  On Tuesday people didn't care about waiting up to 6  hours to give blood for the dying. On Monday we waved our flags signifying our cultural diversity.  On Tuesday we waved only the American flag. On Monday there were people trying to separate each other by race, sex, color and creed.  On Tuesday they were all holding hands. On Monday we were men or women, black or white, old or young, rich or poor, gay or straight, Christian or  non-Christian.  On Tuesday we were Americans. On Monday politicians argued about budget surpluses. On Tuesday, grief stricken, they sang 'God Bless America'. On Monday the President was going to Florida to read to children.  On Tuesday he returned to Washington to protect our children. On Monday we had families.  On Tuesday we had orphans. On Monday people went to work as usual.  On Tuesday they died. On Monday people were fighting the 10 commandments on government property.  On Tuesday the same people all said 'God help us all' while thinking 'Thou shall not kill'. It is sadly ironic how it takes horrific events to place things into perspective, but it has. The  lessons learned this past week, the things we  have taken for granted, the things that have been forgotten or overlooked, hopefully will never be  forgotten again.