To All:
A couple of you have sent private messages about the 35W bridge collapse in Minnesota. Thank you for your friendship and concern. Actually, all week I was out of town in Madison, Wisconsin on a training assignment but watched in horror on CNN and FoxNews from a distance.
I had some tense moments as my 18-year old son was playing with his band in Minneapolis that night. We live about 25 miles of the Twin Cities. He had told his step-mother that he was going to stay overnight with friends and not be home. After the bridge collapsed, I tried to reach him on his cellphone but only got his voicemail. He didn't check in with me until the next morning. My God I told him, if there are 50 cars in the Mississippi River, why didn't you call me or your stepmom to let us know you weren't one of them?? He actually took a different way into Minneapolis but how we were to know? Hope he grows up soon.
Anyway, we have a major recovery and traffic mess in the Twin Cities. There is major construction on other parts of the freeway system and this tragedy will affect us for probably several years. I lived in that area for five years as a graduate of the Univ. of Minnesota. We were on the bridge about a week ago and noted the road work going on as we passed through. I have used that bridge hundreds if not thousands of times. We would have taken that bridge on the way to the Sept. 22 Gordon concert which is about 2 miles further south. Gordon's truck driver will need to use an alternate route when they pack up in Minneapolis and head for Duluth next month.
I keep thinking of our favorite poet and his line from "I'll Tag Along."
"This time tomorrow we might all be packed and gone. I believe it's best, to carry on."
On behalf of fellow Minnesotans, thank you for your thoughts and prayers. Let's hope good comes from this and our governments become more serious about the infrastructure issues in this country.
John /Forest Lake, MN
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