Historic events. JFK’s assassination in 1963. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on the moon in 1969. The end of the Vietnam war, and the birth of the first test tube baby, in the 1970s. The murder of John Lennon in 1980. The nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in 1986. Princess Diana’s tragic accident in 1997. A global pandemic in 2020. 

 Which time-stopping historic events do you recall? Can you complete the phrase :  “I remember where I was when … ”

 I remember precisely where I was on the morning of September 11th, 2001. I heard of the first disaster, the crash of American Airlines Flight 11 into the north face of the North Tower of the World Trade Centre, on CBC Radio as I was still in bed. Sixteen minutes later, United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower, and I bolted downstairs to turn on the small TV above the fridge. I stood there for the next twelve hours.

 We’re at Episode 10 of Something Like Love, the finale of this suite of stories featuring teen characters. The story you’re about to hear aired twice on CBC Radio Saskatchewan to commemorate 9/11.  The text and music are on me, Zak Cohen produced, and my lovely daughter, Taylor Leedahl, provided the cover art for Season One of Something Like Love.

I'll be premiering Season Two of Something Like Love next Wednesday. It'll have a wider focus - each episode will feature a theme (the moon is first up). There'll be a cover song (Shellified, of course), poetry or prose (either from previously published books or new work), and a meditation. We're all stumbling through these unprecedented times together, eh, but we've got this. Thank you to all who listened to the first season. I hope you'll stick with me - or join me for the first time - next week. Go well.