I can tell you that so many of those images are still in my head, though not in the same way as those who actually experienced it. That event was an experience that no one should ever have. Ever. I had to watch it on a screen that kept replaying a time of unimaginable tragedy resulting from a bottomless well of hatred. I didn’t stop watching it, because to stop felt sacrilegious. If those people in it couldn’t leave, then I shouldn’t be able to turn away from it. It was a potent reminder of how hatred destroys, and that I should never ever succumb to it for any reason.
We all remember this day as a day that changed the world that we live in. There have been many horrific events that similarly rocked the stable ground that we walk on. But nothing to the extent of 9/11. We’ve spent a decade going over the images that wouldn’t stop playing in our heads, or on our screens. It was that catastrophic. And yet, through it all, we found an inner strength in us to take a tentative step forward into our future. It’s not easy and we won’t forget. But we have to survive and persevere for those who didn’t. No one knows what the future will bring. The world that we thought existed wasn’t even close to reality. Other countries experience this more frequently than we do. Perhaps our continent’s distance because of two vast oceans has insulated us from the terror that seems to be everywhere. But the world is now connected on levels that we wouldn’t have believed a few decades ago, and that distance is only in our heads now.
Let’s all pause a moment in respect for those who passed in such a cruel and incomprehensible manner. Let’s all bring back those fond memories of those we hold dear. For though they’re not on the face of this Earth with us, they are in our hearts and minds each and every day separate from this one day that won’t let go. And let’s also remember that those devastating actions of those who disagree with us may beget another day such as today if everyone doesn’t change their ways. No one wants that ever. Anywhere.
We need to live our lives beyond the best of our abilities. Everyone is in a position to give something back for what they’ve been given. Freedom. Independence. Liberty and justice for all. These aren’t just words, but our way of life. Men and women fight for those words every day in near and far away places. But let’s move past the physical and open up a dialogue about what’s inside each and every one of us around the world. Because until we can have respectful open two-way communications about what’s inside us, days like today will continue to be a specter that we fear.
Here’s to hoping and working for a world where such days as today will never happen again. Anywhere.
Some remembrances of 9/11 by the NY Times
The September 11 Digital Archive
p.s. – I’m purposely not connecting with anything (with the exception of the digital archive) that will put us back into those mind-breaking moments, because those moments were too much to experience when they actually happened. We shouldn’t forget, but we also shouldn’t be caught in the vicious riptide of this day forever.
