Tuesday, 11 September 2012

• Eleven Years Later: Reflections on 9/11

  When I think about it, I can recall every detail of that day.  I was in second period AP English, taking a test on a book we had just read.  It was my senior year of high school, and of all the things I had on my mind that morning, terrorism was certainly not one of them.  But as our principal came over the PA and announced that an attack had been made against the World Trade Center in New York City, I felt a sense of dread. I wondered if this was going to change the world as I knew it.
  
  It's been eleven years.  Eleven isn't one of those landmark anniversaries like five and ten are.  When a decade has passed, it seems like people tend to get a bit more reflective.  I remember there were many events last year to mark the ten-year anniversary of 9/11.  But Eleven -- it's just not the same.  It doesn't have the same power or carry the same weight that a decade does.
  
  I didn't realize the anniversary of 9/11 was coming up until yesterday.  I guess I kind of forgot about it, and asking around my workplace, it seemed I wasn't the only one.  It wasn't that we had forgotten the scenes -- the plane hitting the second tower, the towers collapsing, a firefighter carrying out a child covered in ash, a city full of people in suits and ties covered in dust, the rubble that marked the spot for years -- it was that we just simply didn't feel the impact of the anniversary as deeply as we used to.
  
  I suppose if you live in New York City, the anniversary hits you hardest of all, since you were likely there to see and experience it.  And if you lost someone that day, it doesn't get any easier to recall the senselessness of the events of that day and mourn that loss.  If you or someone you know has fought, or perhaps died, in the battles that ensued because of the attacks, this day marks a turning point in your life, too.  But all of us, regardless of our connection to the events that occurred on 9/11, can agree that life has gone on.
  
  So today marks a melancholy anniversary, and while we may not necessarily feel the depth of it anymore, I encourage you to still mark this day with a memory.  Let's not forget what happened, even if we don't feel as connected to it as we used to.  Take a moment to remember, to share with people where you were on that day and how it changed the way you saw the world around you.  And take a moment to thank the God who loves that it hasn't happened again.
  
  How has 9/11 impacted your life?  How did you remember it today?  How should we remember it? 

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