Your whole world can change in a flash.

We know this, deep in our hearts, but don't really know what it means until we see it first-hand, or have it happen to us. We witness the devastation that once was an orderly life and wonder what to do next. Then we look to our friends, and hope we've chosen well.

Yesterday my husband Bob came home from work early. Our yard backs up to a small creek, and since torrential rains have dumped a foot of water in our neighborhood in the past few days, he wanted to get home to check on things. He noticed that water was puddling in the front yard of two of our neighbors, and went to check on them after he'd found nothing amiss at our home. One set of neighbors wasn't home, but the other neighbor was, and he was getting a little bit of water under a sliding glass door. The two men came back to our house to get the big shop vac and by the time they got back, the little trickle of water had become a stream. Bob went to another neighbor's house to borrow another shop vac and in the space of about three or four minutes returned to find that the water had risen to knee-high and our neighbor was trapped inside.

With both of them working on it, they finally got a door open. As the water rose rapidly, Larry and Bob dashed up the driveway to higher ground. If things floated close enough, they would snag what they could: a pair of golf sandals, a plastic case containing barbecue tools, a partial case of bottled water. Other things floated out of reach: the extra leaf from the kitchen table, a separated pair of golf shoes, a cushion off of a chair. The water looked like Yoo Hoo and churned around and through both houses, carrying with it whatever it could.

In our neighborhood, it didn't sweep away any people. In other areas around Atlanta, it did. This morning's news reports that six are dead and many more are missing.

Larry has a lot of friends, and many, like Bob, showed up to see what could be done. One donned some improvised waders made of two plastic garbage bags and a pair of LL Bean muck boots and waded back into his house to get his medications, which had been left behind in his haste to escape the rapidly rising water. One gave him a place to stay for as long as he needs it, another offered his car, since Larry's was in the shop and the rental car was submerged in the garage. A case of Miller Lite was found floating, and that was snagged for Larry, too - his beverage of choice was rescued, at least, which made him laugh out loud when he saw it. To be able to laugh at a time like this is so valuable, so whether the beer is drunk or not, it's rescue served a noble cause.

In the midst of this, the other pair of neighbors returned home and were shocked to see that the tidy house they left yesterday morning was filled with two and a half feet of water from the normally-tiny creek behind the house. The friends and neighbors again started helping: the improvised waders were transferred to the wife and guys started going in to help the couple see what they could salvage, as well as get their needed items out of the house.

Community means a lot on a good day. On a really bad day, you discover what your community - your friends and neighbors - are made of. From what I witnessed yesterday afternoon, Bob and I are blessed with very caring friends. I wish the same for you, and hope your friendships aren't tested in such a drastic way.

It's the time of the year when the major country music tours are wrapping up. Kenny Chesney's tour wraps this weekend, as does America's Toughest Tour, with Trace Adkins and Toby Keith. Hope you got to at least one good country concert this summer so the memories of it can carry you to next summer.

Fall is about to officially start next week, and with it, cooler weather, county fairs and lots of football. High school football is a rite of passage for high-schoolers, and there are a lot of parents who continue to go to the games long after their kids have graduated and headed off to college. The reason? It's at least as much about community as it is about the games. It becomes another way to connect with neighbors, share experiences and feel good about where you live and the people you share your life with.

No matter how you spend this weekend, spend some of it connecting with the people who are important in your life. And if you can do that at a country concert or a local football game, so much the better.

Today is the 8th anniversary of one of the most awful days in American history. Can you remember September 11, 2001, and how you felt as the horror of what had happened crept into your life?

Can you remember how it felt to watch the twin towers burn, knowing there were souls above the fire who knew they were about to perish and could do nothing to save themselves?

Can you remember the emptiness you felt, and the longing to hold those who had lost loved ones?

Can you remember the desire to do anything - donate bottled water, canned food, blood - anything to feel like you were helping?

Can you remember the sense of community that America felt that day, and for many days after? We put aside petty differences, focusing instead on what we could do to help our country recover from the blow.

Can you remember the American flags flying from houses, overpasses and cars everywhere? Today, outside your home or on your desk at work, do you have an American flag displayed? Maybe you're wearing it as jewelry, a lapel pin or maybe a pair of stars and stripes earrings. Today, especially, fly that flag to help you remember.

Songs like Alan Jackson's "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning" and Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" were born in tragedy, but continue to uplift us to this day, as the best country music always does.

Today, remember the sense of community we felt as Americans pulled together to recover from 9/11 and try to bring it to whatever you do. We are a community in the best sense of the word, when we remember to behave as one. May we not have to have another 9/11 to remember.