I wanted to take a few days to write about this past September 11th. Many of you know how connected to 9/11 I am. Even though I wasn’t here and I didn’t know anyone who was murdered, by fate and design I became irreversibly part of this unimaginable day. And because of that I feel a deep rooted responsibility to continue to encourage others to never forget and to seek true understanding no matter how uncomfortable that is.
I have been regularly attending the 9/11 ceremony since 2006. This annual experience is the most moving and heart-wrenching thing I have ever seen. The moment I step onto the mall I am overwhelmed with the unity of devastation, sadness and quiet grief. It truly transcends any other feelings I have ever felt. For so much of the world it’s just one day a year to honor these victims. The reality is that those who lost their lives are not the only victims.
I stand very still while name after name pours into my ears. I watch helplessly as readers walk off the stage on wobbly legs and throw themselves into the arms of a loved one. They shake and sob like 9/11 happened yesterday. This irreparable pain is still so present for them. And this day happens to them over and over every year; yet they submit to it to honor those who were so brutally taken.
After I wait until Andrea’s name is called I then walk slowly to the museum. I spend the next few hours reliving the day as best I can having not been here. I spend a great deal of time in the victims room. A room with 4 floor to ceiling walls of photographs; photographs of each person who perished. Each time I see new faces and names and wonder what their lives were like, who they left behind, and what they went through. I then step over to the station where one can look up each person and read more about them and see photos from their life. Some even have personal accounted recordings from loved ones. I always choose those I’ve never read before. For me I want to know who these people were. They are not just part of a large number of humans no longer here. They are not just faces on a wall. They deserve more than that.
On September 11th every year while people are off to work, enjoying a coffee, laughing with a friend, and posting funny meme’s on Facebook there are thousands of people who can barely breathe thru the tragic reminder of the horror that this day represents. Losing a loved one is awful and leaves a hole in your soul forever but this is different. It’s not the same as losing someone to cancer or a car accident. This is everywhere. It’s on TV, the newspaper, magazines, social media....for these people it is inescapable. For those who were here it’s inescapable.
This year I met someone new. His name is Mike. He is in a wheel chair and on oxygen. As a medic he was a first responder and on the search and rescue team. Mike recovered over 500 victims in some way or another, including Andrea. This year he was honored with a flag that flew on 9/11. He told me he hadn’t slept in 17 years. He now has a pace maker and defibrillator, blood poisoning, and cancer. This man hit the ground running without any hesitation to help a country in crisis. This kind of bravery and true human spirit go beyond. I don’t know if I could have endured it. Yet thousands and thousands of volunteers did. Do we think of these people? Those who put themselves through indescribable images and conditions for complete strangers? Those who are slowly being taken because of 9/11 and their sacrifice in the days that followed?
I have had more than a handful of people tell me over the years that going to the memorial and especially the museum is just too emotionally hard on them. Well I completely challenge that. I believe every person who wasn’t here that fateful day, especially Americans should have to spend one day experiencing this. These people should be honored and mourned. They should be visited and understood. Nothing a person will feel in the few hours they are inside the museum could ever come close to the horror and destruction that our victims experienced or what these loved ones bear within themselves forever.
As I scrolled through Facebook this year I was saddened to see far fewer postings for 9/11 than last year. People have either started to forget or think that since it’s been 17 years it’s just not important anymore. What a sad shame. It has been said so many times how unfortunate it was that something like 9/11 had to occur to generate the amazing love, acceptance, and human kindness that occurred in this world after that tragic day. It lasted for while but it slowly faded away. We are back to being at each others throats politically, socially, and personally. We are back to putting ourselves first and caring not for the nameless face next to us. I can hear these people begging through those 2,996 photos for us not to forget them. And to please not let their deaths be for nothing.
I ask that you all please take a moment and remember. Remember these people. Remember them more than one day a year. Get to know them.
We are better than what we have become. And they are pleading with us to see that.
As Always Thank You For Reading...