Friday In Its Entirety

Wow! What an amazing day! And so jam packed!
The day started with quick showers all around, then off to Middletown. Our good friend, Sara Elander tagged along all through today as well. Once in Middletown, we ate at the Athenian II diner for some fantastic breakfast. Letting my food digest, I plugged in the coordinates to our much awaited and planned for destination: the house of AJ Malone.

The anticipation hung in the air like a thick fog; everyone knew the importance of today.
As we pulled up to the Malone house (easily identified by the 15 cars parked out front) I immeadiatly noticed the local Nbc affiliate, channel 30 truck parked out front; to top it off, a cameraman got footage of us rolling up.

The proceedings went amazing, better then planned. Mrs. Malone was so very kind and gracious, and her family was extraordinary! Our class brought various gifts... Gold, frankensens, and myrh... Ok just kidding! Mr. Mansfield,my dad, had portraits made of the helmet that we presented to the Malone family. Also, our class presented Bibles which each of us had signed. Finally, the time had come.
With much enthusiasm, Mr. Mansfield reached into the bag behind him, and brought forth the item of most interest: AJ Malone's helmet. The cameras flashed, the film whirled, and the faces grinned. Speaking on behalf of my class, the moment was everything we could have hoped for and more. Mr. Mansfield handed the helmet to Mrs. Malone, and with a few more words the procession was over. We stayed at the house for about another hour and a half in community with the family and friends of the Malone's, as well as doing a few press interviews.
After the main event, our class was given the honor of visiting Mr. Malone's grave site with his daughter, Lorraine Decker. Truly a touching experience. My dad said a few words, and Austin prayed.

Then, it was off to New York!
Realize that originally, we hadn't planned on going to NY. It wasn't until Boston, yesterday, that Shalom suggested it. Great idea!

Anyways, we started our NY tour by hitting up the ferry. Once on there, we were able to take pics of the Statue of Liberty. Very fun!
From the ferry we went to ground zero (pic on below post) then we were off to Grand Central Station (pic below as well). After eating at GCS, we headed back to our cars, did a quick drive by of time square, then started the 2 hour process of getting home.

Now, as I sit here blogging from my dads iPhone, I look back on today with skepticism. Is it really possible we did all this in one day? The answer is yes, and my tired feet remind me of that fact.

Who knows what tomorrow holds before we head home at 5ish!

Colin

Posted with LifeCast