One Shot at Forever by Chris Ballard

 A baseball book review. 

This is the story of a magical baseball season with an unlikely coach in a small town in Illinois.  

Synopsis

The year is 1971. The town is Macon, Illinois, a very small rural farm community in central Illinois. The team is a rag-tag high school baseball team in a school population that is so small that the boys have to play every sport in order to have enough players to make a team (football, basketball, baseball). The unlikely coach of the baseball team is the school's English teacher with no coaching expertise. 

This is a charming true story of a small-town baseball team, playing in hand-me-down uniforms, who emerged from a field of 370 teams to make an improbable run to the State Final.  

The boys of Macon renew our understanding of why baseball matters.

Lynn Sweet arrives in Macon in 1966.  He's a long-haired hippie, a dreamer and an intellectual who brings progressive ideas to a town stuck in the 1950s. The son of a hard-driving Army Sergeant, Sweet is the opposite; fond of bucking convention and convinced the world is full of good people who occasionally have bad ideas. The students love him; the administration not so much! 

Call me 'Sweet' he tells his students on the first day of school. This in a school who wants and expects proper behavior, such as calling their teachers by Mr. & Ms/Mrs. His classroom has four round tables instead of desks. There are posters on the walls and rows of bookshelves. The bookshelves have novels and short stories unlike any before seen in Macon. There are also magazines and comic books.  But there are no grammar textbooks. Sweet teaches with unconventional assignments and tells the students “Have fun with it.”

Summary

When Sweet takes over the baseball team (because no one else wants the job) he becomes intent on teaching the boys as much about life as baseball. Inspired by coach's unconventional methods, the undersized Macon Ironmen embark on a postseason run that amazed everyone, infuriated rival coaches, and buoyed a little town that was suffering from a damaging drought and the shadow of the Vietnam War ~ a town in desperate need of something to celebrate. They became the smallest school in Illinois history to appear in the championship game, and that distinction still stands. The experience would change the lives of this high school baseball team forever. 

Author Chris Ballard

Chris Ballard is a senior writer at Sports Illustrated where he specializes in the narrative. One Shot at Forever is delightfully written in a gripping narrative as it tells the story of the members of that special 1971 team, and its coach. A true story well worth reading. 

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*One Shot at Forever Book Review written by 

~Wednesday Elf, the Baseball Contributor on Review This Reviews

Book available on Amazon

*Image sources: Pixabay

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Spring Brings Opening Day of Major League Baseball

Chicago's Wrigley Field (Image Credit)

The month of March brings the first day of Spring and leads up to the Opening Day of Major League Baseball (4/1/2021). To baseball fans this is what we wait for all winter long. Our feelings for this season are reflected in my favorite baseball quote “There are only two seasons, Winter and Baseball” ~Bill Veeck

As Spring Training comes to an end and the 2021 baseball season begins, we look forward to seeing our favorite players and teams, and reflect back on past favorites. We will miss the ones who have retired (like Mariano Rivera, the marvelous 'closer' on the pitching staff for the Yankees). If you're like me, you find the lives of these men as fascinating and interesting as their baseball careers have been and might wonder what their stories were.

Luckily for us, there are a wealth of baseball books available, written by and about pitchers, position players, managers and sports announcers which put all the excitement of their careers in baseball on printed pages between the covers! I'm reading one right now about 'retired' St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa. The book (One Last Strike) focuses on just a small section of Tony's career (specifically his final season of 2011 and the magical comeback of a team that refused to give up). Once you get interested in reading about a specific player, you find all sorts of fun 'tidbits' of information. For instance, I bet you didn't know that Tony La Russa became a vegetarian – and why. 

As a baseball fan I'm looking for reviews of baseball books you have read and recommend for all us 'fans' who want to learn more about these 'Boys of Summer'. If you write a review, leave me a link in the comments and I may feature it in an upcoming post.

Books such as "The Science of Hitting" by Ted Williams. Did you know that in 1935, Lovell Haskins Peirce, a physics professor at San Diego State University, had Ted in his physics class where the professor gave a lesson on the physics of hitting a baseball?  Ted Williams went on to become the last hitter to top a .400 batting average in a season.

The Science of Hitting

(c) Elf - My treasured baseball
signed by Joe Torre

Now that Spring Training has ended, let's get ready to Play Ball. 

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Major League Baseball Stadiums

Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO

If you are a baseball fan, there is nothing better than being at a game in person. And when the game is a Major League Baseball game, it's even better, especially when it's your favorite team!

Girl's Day Out at the Ballpark!

In June 2014, while visiting my daughter in St. Louis, we acquired tickets to a St. Louis Cardinals' afternoon game. The seats were fantastic, the view outstanding, the weather beautiful (although very hot) and the game fun, even though the 'Cards' lost 3-2 to the NY Mets. In past years I had been to a number of Cardinals games at the 'old Busch Stadium, but this was my first visit to the 'new' Busch Stadium which opened in 2004.

Ballpark Village at Busch Stadium, St. Louis

Ballpark Village, St. Louis, Missouri

We also had the opportunity before the game to visit 'Ballpark Village', a new dining and entertainment district in St. Louis located next to Busch Stadium. It just opened this 2014 baseball season and is located on the site of the 'old' Busch Stadium. Between the 'village' tour and the Cardinals game, it was a full (and fantastically fun) afternoon.

Favorite Baseball Stadiums

My favorite major league stadium is Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Home of the St. Louis Cardinals, my favorite team.

Kurt, known as BallparkEGuides1 on HubPages  gives us some great tips for enjoying a game at the new Yankees Stadium in the Bronx, NY. 

It doesn't really matter which baseball stadium you visit or which team is your favorite. If you are a baseball fan, any visit to a baseball game becomes a joyful summer experience.

Experience all thirty baseball stadiums in the country from the comfort of your favorite easy chair with The Baseball Stadium Insider found on Amazon.

'Take me out to the ballgame!' 

*Written by Wednesday-Elf, your baseball contributor on Review This Reviews!



*Baseball Stadium Photos are (c) Wednesday Elf

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Baseball Managers

Tony La Russa

There have been a large number of famous baseball managers over the more than 150 years of Major League Baseball. Every baseball manager begins Spring Training each year with the same hopes & dreams for his team for the upcoming season. As Tony La Russa wrote “Opening Day of Baseball is magical. Sure, it's only Game 1 of the 162 games in the season, but it's more... a day of promise that there will be a winning season.”

St. Louis Cardinals Managers

 

In his book One Last Strike, La Russa, the St. Louis Cardinals' longest running manager, tells us how he used his 33 years of managerial experience with 3 different teams to bring the Cardinals from virtual elimination to winning the World Series in 2011.

The Cardinals have had some of the best managers in all of baseball, including Red Schoendienst, Whitey Herzog and Tony LaRussa.   
 
CrossCreations reviews them for us in Cardinals Baseball Managers.

Casey Stengel

One of the most well-known baseball managers was Casey Stengel, who managed the New York Yankees from 1949 to 1960. During what was known affectionately as the 'Stengel Era' (1949 to 1953) the Yankees won the World Series five consecutive times. I remember being a pre-teen during the 1950s and thinking that the Yankees were the only team in town! :) 'It's the World Series – the Yankees will win!' Of course it also helped that I lived in New York State and was therefore a loyal NY Yankees fan! 

Hopes and Dreams of Baseball Managers

In this summer 2020, the MLB season has been shortened by a world-wide virus. The baseball season was delayed until the end of July.  Now, all managers – and the teams they lead – hold onto their hopes & dreams in a short 60-game run to determine the 'best-of-the-best' as they do each season. 

Review from the Review This!  Baseball Fan Contributor

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Field of Dreams Travel Review

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Thirty years ago, the Universal Studios movie Field of Dreams was released. It was a film about baseball, but, more than that, it was a magical fairy tale for anyone who has a dream they wish would come true. 

The movie makers used the century-old Lansing Family Farm location in Dyersville, Iowa, located 30 minutes west of Dubuque and two and a half hours from Des Moines. 

After the movie was done, the baseball field the main character (Kevin Costner) creates in his corn field (because of a message he receives “If you build it, he will come”) was kept by the property owners and turned into a tourist attraction. 

To this day, you can visit the Field of Dreams for free, bring your ball, bat & glove and play baseball on the field or watch a pick-up game from the stands. 

August is the best time to visit because the corn field behind the baseball diamond is at it's tallest and fullest prior to the Fall harvest. 

Our Visit to Field of Dreams

The year after the movie was released in 1989, we visited Dyersville, Iowa and saw the Field of Dreams. This past week August 2019) we returned for another visit. It was just as enchanting as it was the first time. Especially for this baseball fan who loves the movie. 

A few changes have been made over the years. The original owners sold out to another owner who later sold the rights to the area to 'Go the Distance' Baseball, which has owned and preserved the site since December 2012.   A gift shop has been added (I bought a T-Shirt that says “Is this Heaven? No, it's Iowa” (another iconic line from the movie), which brings in operating revenue for maintaining the site. The original house, in which several scenes were filmed, is now available to rent for the night. Plus, Go the Distance has hosted several events, such as the “Ghost Players game”, and have more events planned. Under this new ownership, attendance has nearly doubled to over 100,000 visitors a year. 

Our Day at Field of Dreams in Photos

Field of Dreams Outfield

Visitors  playing pick-up baseball
on the Field of Dreams

Wednesday Elf on the Pitcher's Mound

Field of Dreams view from the Cornfield

The cornfield from where (just like in the  movie)
Shoeless Joe & the White Sox Players
enter the field.

Farm House at the Field of Dreams

MLB at Field of Dreams

Just recently it was announced that in August, 2020, MLB will play a major league game (the first ever held in Iowa) at a temporary field being built for the event. Since the movie is based on the book Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella about Shoeless Joe Jackson of the 1919 White Sox coming to play (as a ghost) at this Iowa baseball field with his teammates, this MLB game will be between the Chicago White Sox and the New York Yankees. 

A new stadium, with seating for 8,000 fans, began construction right after our visit and will be ready next August for what is being billed as “MLB at Field of Dreams”. 

Don Lansing, owner of the Lansing Farm, was recently interviewed by Phil Roberts for The North Scott Press in Eldridge, Iowa. Lansing was quoted as saying he thinks the MLB venture will be a huge success.

Like Terrence Mann (James Earl Jones) said in the movie to Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella:

"This field, this game, it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good and that could be again. Oh people will come, Ray, People will most definitely come."

 

Field of Dreams baseball field is here to stay!* 

*Update Note:  The 2020 MLB at Field of Dreams game was postponed due to the panendemic. It was finally held, and was a huge success, last night (8/12/2021). The teams were the Chicago White Sox and the New York Yankees, with the White Sox winning in a wild and exciting walk-off home run finish. Final score 9-8.

Because this special game, the first time a Major League Baseball game has ever been played in Iowa, was so well received, what was to have been a 'one-time-only' event is already sparking rumors that it will become an annual event. A baseball game in the cornfields of Iowa, just like the iconic movie starring Kevin Costner, is special and deserves to be repeated ~ it reflects a 'dream come true'. 

My Favorite Field of Dreams Gifts

(c) Wednesday Elf  8/31/2019. Updated 8/13/2021

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Baseball and the Star-Spangled Banner

Baseball Sports Decor Wall Hanging

Reviewing how the Star-Spangled Banner became associated with sports. 

September 14, 2014, marked the 200th anniversary of the “Star-Spangled Banner”.  

It originally was a poem called "Defence of Fort M'Henry" written by Francis Scott Key 0n 9-14-1814 after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the American victory and by seeing the American flag flying over the fort.  The poem was later set to music and published under the name “The Star- Spangled Banner”.

The song gained popularity throughout the 1800s and was played by bands during public events.  On July 27, 1889, Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Tracy made it the official tune to be played at the raising of the flag. 

In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson ordered that "The Star-Spangled Banner" be played at military and other appropriate occasions. 

And on March 3,1931 President Herbert Hoover signed a law officially adopting “The Star-Spangled Banner” as America's National Anthem.

How Did Our National Anthem Become Associated with Sports?

The National Anthem

So, how did the song become associated with baseball?  It happened during the 1918 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and the Boston Red Sox.  A band had been hired by the Red Sox owner for each game in the World Series and, as a tribute to enlisted players and other soldiers in Europe during WWI, they played “The Star-Spangled Banner” during the seventh inning stretch.  The song was many years away from becoming our national anthem, but players still stood at attention and saluted the flag during the performance.  Servicemen in the crowd found themselves cheering and everyone burst into applause at the end of the song.  

Near the end of that World Series, the tune was played before the first pitch at Fenway Park and it was the beginning of a tradition that became a baseball game standard during World War II.  Eventually the playing of the American National Anthem became a custom adopted by other American sports and continues to this day.

This reminds me of that oldest of baseball jokes: "What are the last two words of the national anthem? Play ball!" 

Baseball Dad Flag T-Shirt on Etsy 

(c) Wednesday Elf, the Review This! Baseball Contributor

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Fun December Review of a Few Christmas and Santa Memories

A collection of personal Christmas stories....
 

Coal in the Christmas Stocking … and Baseball Cole

Handmade Lump of Coal soap by SEAandCLEAN on Etsy

The old-fashioned custom of children who misbehave finding a lump of coal from 'Santa' in their Christmas Stocking instead of presents has many origins, mostly cultural.

In Italy gifts at Christmas began with the birth of Jesus and is where La Befana (a witch who delivers presents) instead of Santa Claus leaves toys for good children, and coal for bad ones. Today, Italians use a candy, called Carbone Dolce, (dark, rock-like candy that looks just like lumps of coal), as a joke.

In Holland, the coal legend began around the 16th century. Dutch children would put their clogs by the fireplace before stockings were used and got a lump of coal if they were bad and a small toy, cookies or candy if they were good.

Other countries have their own legends or stories to tell.

Interesting to note that in Scotland and Northern England it is considered lucky to receive a lump of coal as a gift on New Year's Day. It's part of their 'First-Footer' celebration and represents warmth for the year to come.

Being a baseball fan (and the baseball fan contributor here on Review This!), I tend to relate 'everything' to baseball.  A December 2014 headline in MLB news is what brought this whole story about.  It stated “Which Club will get Cole in its Stocking?”  The story goes on to state that there are a number of 'Cole diggers' (baseball teams) vying for  the acquisition of the Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels.  We didn't  know for awhile which team ended up with Cole as their new pitcher, but the Boston Red Sox seemed the most interested at that moment. (Red Sox ~ Stockings ~ Hmmm!)

*Editor's Note: Cole Hamels actually ended up with the Texas Rangers in 2014.  Today he is pitching for the Atlanta Braves.
 
Christmas stocking Coal or Baseball pitcher Cole.  The stocking lump-of-coal seems appropriate for this time of year. Baseball is appropriate ANY time of year (to me, the baseball nut). :-)

Santa, I Can Explain...

eBay Cross Stitch Pattern

I sell craft supplies and patterns on eBay and it is always delightful to receive a note from a customer about a particular item.

I sold this cross stitch pattern shown in the photo of a cat sitting next to a tree ornament lying on the floor and the words “Santa, I can explain!” 

The buyer sent a note saying she couldn't wait to cross stitch this design as her cat takes all the stuff off the tree and hides it.  Then takes the branches and gets rid of them.  So this picture is for her cat. :-).

Personalized stories like this make my eBay selling most enjoyable and gives me such a nice feeling that something I've listed is exactly what someone wanted or fits a situation perfectly.

Handmade by Santa?

Handmade Christmas Coasters Available on Etsy

Since early childhood, we've known that Santa, with the help of his elves, makes all the Christmas toys for good little girls and boys. As we grow up, we begin to doubt that Santa Claus actually made everything by hand.

I confess I had some doubts myself, until last month when someone bought a batch of yarn I had for sale in my eBay store.  You see, the shipping address for the yarn purchase was – wait for it – NORTH POLE, AK.

I'm now totally convinced that 'Santa's Workshop' actually exists.  

Santa Humpty Dumpty

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

 

(c) A collection of stories originally written by me (Wednesday Elf) on a former online site.

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Review of a Tour of a Major League Baseball Stadium

Busch Stadium View

If you are looking for an interesting place to take children on a tour, I would suggest a major league baseball stadium.  In July my granddaughters, age 10 and 12, were visiting us and it was a hot and sticky July summer in St. Louis.  I was looking for an interesting place to spend some time with them when someone suggested a tour of the baseball stadium.

Busch Stadium in St. Louis opened in April of 2006.  This huge stadium has seats for 43,975 people and offers a beautiful panoramic view of the downtown skyline.  Fellow Review This author, Pat, wrote about her visit to the stadium in this article. 

I went online and found information about the tour of Busch stadium and was delighted to find out that tickets  included a tour of the stadium and a visit to the Cardinal Hall of Fame and Museum.

Tour of Busch Stadium

Our tour of Busch Stadium started just outside Gate 3 of the stadium.  This gate has a statue of baseball great Stan Musial just outside the gate and the entrance to the gate is a tribute to the Eads Bridge with a large bridge-like structure arching over the entrance.  The Musial statue is often a meeting place for fans coming to the ballpark.  Here is a photo of my granddaughters and myself by the statue.  You will also note part of the bridge entrance in the background.

The tour of the stadium took about an hour and we visited The Redbird Club, the Champions Club, the broadcast booth and the Cardinal dugout.  Here are some photographs from each of those areas.

 In this photo my granddaughters are sitting in the Cardinal dugout.  It was fun to sit where the Cardinals sit during the games.  It was also fun next time we watched a game on TV to say we had sat there too!

The Redbird Club is an area where fans can buy tickets and enjoy food in an indoor glassed area.

Their tickets also include seats in front of the area to view the game from outside.  It is a nice way to enjoy the game, but also be able to get in from the heat.  One of the walls in the club was very interesting.  It was covered with replicas of oldtime Cardinal baseball cards.

View from the Broadcast Booth

The girls enjoyed seeing the broadcast booth and they were able to sit in the same seats the announcers sit in when they announce the games.

The Champions club is another indoor seating area.  In this club are several of the world series trophies that the Cardinals have won over the years. 

Ballpark Village

Across from Busch Stadium is the newest dining and entertainment district in St. Louis.  This area houses several restaurants along with the Cardinal Hall of Fame and Museum.  The area is being built in stages and in the future there will be more retail along with a hotel and residential opportunities.  There will also be more parking.  Ballpark Village is a "happening" place to be, both during home and away games.  Many fans gather to watch the games on the big screen TV's and enjoy food and drinks in the area restaurants.  We stopped at Cardinal Nation and had lunch before we went to the museum.  We found the food excellent and very reasonably priced.  The photo below shows the girls in Ballpark Village.

Cardinal Hall of Fame and Museum

The Hall of Fame and Museum has something for everyone.  This 8000 square foot museum is packed with over 16000 items of baseball memorabilia and thousands of archived photographs.  My husband really enjoyed looking over all of the memorabilia and the girls enjoyed some of the interactive displays.

Display from Museum

Two of the displays that the girls really enjoyed were the mock broadcasting booth and the display where they could hold actual bats from former and present Cardinal players.

In this photo the girls are trying enjoying trying out their broadcasting skills. They would first watch and listen to a broadcast of an exciting play at a past game, then they would be able to see the play and they would record themselves giving the play by play. When they were finished it would be replayed for them to see how they did. Both girls enjoyed this display.

In this photo, Ella is trying her hand at batting. The display held several bats from Cardinal greats both past and present and a docent was there to hand you one bat out of the case that you chose. You first had to put on plastic gloves before handling the bat. Ella decided to try out a bat from Ozzie Smith.

Postcard from my Photograph

This postcard shows the St. Louis skyline from inside Busch Stadium.

St. Louis Skyline by mbgphoto
Look at St louis arch Postcards online at Zazzle.com

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Most Popular Hallmark Spring Movies Review

Spring is here and Hallmark movies help celebrate the season with a Spring theme. Whether it be flowers, baseball, home renovation or vineyards Hallmark is shepherding in the warmer weather with Spring themed romance of course.

Enjoy the most popular Spring Movies by Hallmark sure to delight Hallmark fans. Here are my

Top 5 Hallmark Spring Movies

The Perfect Catch with Nikki DeLoach and Andrew Walker

Baseball and high school romance of long ago is the backstory for this Hallmark movie. Baseball training brings a high school flame who became a major league baseball player back to his hometown. Where he finds ... his high school sweetheart running the family diner. Walker plays the baseball player and wounded soul who has returned to hide from his fame and misfortune of the moment. DeLoach is running the diner and who comes in the door? 

Walker and DeLoach have a great chemistry whether it be as rom com leads or their witty repertoire throughout the movie. Enjoy as they reconnect with romance.

As Luck Would Have It with Joanna Swisher and Allen Leech

Ireland is the gorgeous backdrop along with castles, cliffs and a quaint castle town as an American is charged with convincing the family to sell. Sell? The family castle and accompanying small town are struggling and are the backbone of the community. Will the family sell? Will the town be saved? Swish and Leech have a wonderful chemistry enhanced by gorgeous scenery and a strong supporting cast.

Tulips In Spring with Fiona Gubelmann and Lucas Byrant

Filmed in Vancouver, the family tulip farm is in jeopardy. Can the city living daughter return to help the farm when a family crisis occurs? Flowers abound and are a lovely breath of spring to visually enjoy! 

Enter the flower broker and romantic lead as the city daughter returns to help mend the family, the farm and maybe her heart. You cannot have spring without gorgeous gorgeous and more gorgeous flowers! 

Flip That Romance with Tyler Hynes and Julie Gonzalo

Spring is absolutely the time for home improvement projects. Hynes abnd Gonzalo have a romatic past of long ago and a flip the house competition brings the couple back together - on separate side of a home to be renovated.  Witty chemistry abounds as the project and compeition continues. Who will win?

Vineyard series with Rachael Leigh Cook and Brendan Penny

This favorite Hallmark couple spurred two sequels to their original Hallmark movie set in the beautiful Okonagan Valley in Canada which looks very similiar to the Napa Valley area of California. Enjoy the romcom repetoire between Cook and Penny as there families feud over wine and their relationship progresses..

In The Vineyard Series
Autumn In The Vineyard
Valentine In The Vineyard
Summer In The Vineyard

Don't forget Christmas In July is right around the corner at Hallmark! Hallmark now debuts a couple early Christmas originals each July between rotating the Christmas classics throughout the month.

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The Day Before 911: A Review

September 11, 2011 (911) Changed the Lives of All Americans

The Day Before 911 reflects on how 911 changed a DOD teacher overseas and the students he served and their families. It begins in 2011, ten years after the terrorists took out the World Trade Center. At that time Elliot was teaching in Germany. He hadn't expected to be back in the classroom. He had cleaned it out at the end of the previous year when he retired to become a writer. But life happened, and he returned to teaching after all. Although he had been teaching high school students in the previous year, he is now facing sixth graders because that's the grade that needed a teacher.

Ground Zero, Image License CCO, Public Domain

As he enters the class, he sees he needs a way to build rapport with these new students. He decides to use the school’s coming commemoration of the ten-year anniversary of 9/11 as an excuse tell them a story about a hero named Tony who loved baseball and stood a very good chance of being drafted into the big leagues. Then terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in New York and brought down the Twin Towers, killing over 3,000 people,  Tony quit baseball and joined the Marines. He was blown up eleven times, but still kept going back to fight.

Elliot’s students found this hard to believe, but he explained that the qualities that made Tony good at baseball were the same qualities that made him a good Marine. He had learned teamwork in baseball and would have done anything for his teammates. Elliot told his students that Tony had “loved baseball and his teammates so much that he joined another team and put on a different uniform just so he could protect the way of life that he was giving up."

As Elliot was beginning his story, one of the girls raised her had to say that her birthday was (September 11.) It hit Elliot that she had never been able to celebrate her birthday on the actual day she was born. The terrorist attacks had happened on her very first birthday. After that, they always celebrated her birthday on September 10, the day before 9/11. It struck Elliot that since he’d taught high school before, this was the first history class he’d taught that had not remembered 9/11. 

Sources: All quotes used here are from The Day Before 9/11 by Tucker Elliot. I noticed after writing this that Amazon also featured some of these quotes readers, including me, had highlighted, on its Kindle edition page.

9/11 - The Filmmakers' Commemorative Edition

See What Happened on that Horrible Day in American History

This documentary film was shot as a result of videographers being at the right place at the right time. They were there to record the training of a firefighter at a firehouse a short distance from the World Trade Center when the first tower was struck.

Child Abuse in the Military

One of he undercurrents in The Day Before 9/11 was child abuse in the military. Elliot blamed himself for the death of two sisters, Angel and her little sister Grace. Angel had many absences from school he should have investigated in person. He also didn't read an email Grace sent not long before her death that might have motivated him to intervene.

He was at a family gathering after burying his grandmother. He was to fly out the next day to speak at a conference. His mother had ordered take-out pizza and he was supposed to pick it up. While waiting to go, he was scanning his email and saw the header of an email sent a few hours earlier by Angel. By this time his nephew was screaming loudly for him to go get the pizza. He deleted the email, not realizing its importance, and had gone to pick up the pizza.

The deaths haunt Elliot through the rest of the book and he fights his guilt and his loss of faith because he believed God hadn't answered his prayers for his students. He knew his students were dealing with the issues these videos discuss. He especially saw the effect on the children of not only absent parents, but the fear of the children whenever a parent left to go to a new post.

These are some of the same issues faced by children Tucker Elliot taught.

Two Special Girls - Sami and Angel

Although this book will show you a lot about living as an expat civilian on a military base during wartime, you will learn much more about what it means to be a teacher and a human being. As Tucker Elliot looks at how his life and the life of his students changed after 9/11, he is filled with shame and guilt. Four girls entered his life -- Sami in Korea and the others, Angel, Grace, and the Birthday Girl, in Germany. Two of them died, and he believes if he'd followed his better instincts instead of withdrawing he might have saved those two who died.

The first special student was Sami. She walked into his life the year he was teaching in Korea. She loved soccer, and he was the athletic director. He used soccer to reach her and help her be strong in the face of change. When the school had to close for ten days after 9/11 for security reasons, Sami had missed Tucker. When she returned after the school reopened, her parents came with her. Sami hugged Tucker tightly and buried her face in his chest as she said she'd missed him. She introduced her parents. He was impressed with both. Her father was high on the chain of command, and Tucker could tell he was as good a father as he could be while gone so much. Tucker thinks:

I knew right then, my worst fear was going to come true.

Not letting the terrorists win means sometimes the good guys are going to die.

I thought, God no. Not this family.

When the classroom was empty, Tucker would go from desk to desk and pray for each student.

Marine looking at wall of Vietnam Memorial 

Source: Wikipedia, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/

He himself came from a military family. His dad and uncle had fought in Vietnam. His uncle never came home. His grandmother said she had 'received a flag for a son.' Tucker had visited the Vietnam Memorial in the company of his dad, but he couldn't get his dad to talk about his war experiences. Then at the memorial, his dad's actions changed. As he walked along the wall he ran his fingers over several names and prayed. When he came to his brother's name, he fell to his knees, rolled himself into a fetal position and cried.

Tucker had been named after his uncle and felt the burden of needing to be heroic himself and live out the kind of life his uncle never had the chance to live. He saw it as a heavy burden and says he resented carrying that burden because he could never be as good as his uncle.

There is too much pain and wisdom in the book to share it all here. But I will try to share some of it.

He says:

Teaching isn’t rocket science. It’s about being engaged, listening, paying attention. Despite conventional wisdom, you don’t need to talk a lot to teach well. You do need to care, though. Not so much about what people think of you or whether or not they like you, but about the kids and doing what’s best for them.

Sami's family was transferred to another part of the world. She emailed Tucker, but he never opened her emails. When he got to Germany the next year, he met Angel.

It turns out Sami had been Angel's best friend, and was delighted to have Tucker as her teacher. By the time Tucker met Angel, her mother, whom he'd not yet met, was already suffering from depression. Tucker had visited Ground Zero by then, and he reflects, "So many lives had been lost on that day, but ... I'd come to understand that military children continued to be victimized by these attacks." They were constantly losing their parents to deployment, not knowing if they would ever see them again. He couldn't deal with seeing that pain. He had transferred to Germany so he could teach in a larger school and be more anonymous.

It didn't work, though. Angel found him and told him Sami was upset because he didn't answer her emails. Angel had brought a brand new mousepad. She put it down beside where Tucker's computer would go and wrote her name on it in big letters. When he asked what she was doing, she said, 'You forgot Sami. I don't want you to forget me, too.'

Tucker still hesitated to be involved outside of class hours and usually went home at the end of the school day. Compared to the way he had interacted with his students in Korea, in Germany he was almost aloof as he tried to maintain emotional distance.

Autumn and Winter, and Sami Again

Five months later Sami entered his life again. Angel missed three days of school just after Sami came back. He thought of checking on her, but Sami was draining his energy.

Autumn Leaves, © B. Radisavljevic

Tucker tells us autumn and the first part of winter seemed to move along with no visible problems, but then all hell broke loose. Sami's dad got called back to Qatar and Angel's dad was sent to Kuwait. Neither family was ever the same again, nor was Tucker. By this time he strongly suspected something was wrong in Angel's family, but Sami wouldn't betray Angel's confidence to tell him what she knew. Angel herself said she wasn't supposed to talk about "family stuff."

Sami kept nagging Tucker to go visit Angel's home to see why Angel was missing so much school. Instead of going, Tucker told Sami to send her mother over to check on Angel's family. When Angel's family was leaving for their new location, Tucker gave Angel his email address and encouraged her to get in touch with him if she needed help. He told her talk and email were two different things.

I got the feeling that Tucker had not opened his emails from Sami because he could see how dependent she was on their relationship and it drained him emotionally. It's obvious, though that he cared about her. He also cared about Angel. Angel finally did send him an email after she left, but he didn't see it until several hours later, and then circumstances discouraged him from opening it. I never could understand why he ignored the girls' emails. I wanted to yell at him to read the emails. His deleting an email from Angel (under pressure from his nephew) may have sealed her doom. (See introduction to video module above.)

It's tough to review memoirs sometimes. Novelists create the ending they want. One can't always control how one's own life or the lives of others will turn out. I don't want to spoil this narrative by telling you all of it. I have hinted at what changed Tucker Elliot. He carried the footprints of Sami, Angel and Grace in his heart. I believe they will always be there. Perhaps he will also discover who he really is and I hope he finds his peace with the God he seems to have lost faith in.

At the end of the book he is on his way to the place where his uncle died, wondering what he will think and feel when he arrives. He wonders if he will find God and forgiveness at the end of his journey. He wonders if he will be strong enough to be good. He ends he book with these words:

...pain is the harbinger of hope. You have to be alive to feel pain. If you are alive, then you have purpose. If you have purpose, then you have hope....God I want to tell Sami that....I want to tell Sami I'm sorry.

The Day Before 9/11


Don't miss this teacher's heartbreaking account of his emotional journey after September 11, 2001. We may have seen the photo of the jets hitting the Twin Towers in New York, but much of the damage done that day is not visible to outside observers. It damaged the spirits of many like Tucker and the families of the children he taught. It destroyed the lives of many who were not even in the United States that day. It just took more time.



See more of my  reviews of books for adults at Bookworm Buffet, the blog I started for that purpose. At Books to Remember, I review some of the best children's books and educational resources for teachers created before Common Core Standards existed. The books  I review there will supplement any honest curriculum and may not be politically correct, even if the companies that published  them now are.

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