We followed the screening with a panel discussion featuring community folk who offered insights into the 9-11 aftermath, plus two of our film actresses, Eileen Marie Davis (Adora Easton) and Sue Feeheley (Iona MacPhee). All had soulful thoughts to share and our verbal interaction with the audience was emotional and, ultimately, uplifting. Afterward, our group floated across the street to continue our sharing at a pizza place well into the night.

I almost didn’t get to the event at all. While driving from Charlotte on a backcountry road near dusk, I rounded a curve at 50 mph and nearly square on hit a semi-truck that had completely blocked the highway while trying to back down a road to a warehouse. With seconds to spare, I swerved over an embankment. My car was airborne a la Dukes of Hazzard and I plummeted into a ravine, then bounced across several more. With my steely grip on the steering wheel, my car stopped in front of a trailer. A man came out to see what the commotion was all about. He happened to be a mechanic and crawled under the car with his pocket flashlight. He tore out some parts that were scraping the ground and threw them in the trunk. Then he pronounced the vehicle drivable and invited me in for coffee. I declined the offer but was so shook up that instead of calling Triple A or the police, I got back in my car and, somewhat shakily, drove on in to Myrtle Beach. After a much needed night’s sleep with the door open to the room’s reviving ocean balcony, I got my wounded Mercedes to the garage the next morning.

The world can come crashing down in a moment, and that experience added a heartfelt depth on my part to the film’s panel discussion about 9-11.