Yesterday, yes, was 9/11.
The 10 year anniversary...
I didn't feel the need to post anything regarding my feelings on the day, as I 'm sure no one in my American reading audience (ye brave, ye few) has forgotten what happened in 2001. I watched a tasteful memorial on ESPN done during the Giants game on Sunday, took a moment and talked with My Sailor about our memories of that day, and then looked forward. I didn't sit in front of the TV and watch footage replayed over and over again. I remember too well hearing a DJ break down sobbing when I turned on the radio on my way to the gym that morning. At first I thought it was a prank the morning show was doing - then they announced a 2nd plane had just hit the World Trade Center...
And then I called my mom to ask if my dad, who was traveling on the East Coast, was okay... She said she didn't know. No one was able to get ahold of him... for six... long hours. Meanwhile, I tried to work. At the time, I was planning on getting married in a few months. In the back of my mind, I was fighting the practical mindset which was trying to prepare me to walk down the aisle without my father.
That morning, for the first time I've ever heard of, Dad missed his flight out.
When news finally trickled back that he was okay, and that he would be continuing on his business trip the next day, renting a car to drive to Canada and fly out of there - part of me was furious he wasn't staying put, part of me was furious he wasn't heading home to the West Coast, but the rest of me 'got it'. "We can't let this stop us. If we do, 'they' win."
Today, I'm proud of his decision to carry on.
But the fear and paralyzing terror from that day isn't ten years away on any level. After all, my father is safe when so many mothers and fathers won't be there to be annoyed with their kids, hug them, laugh with them, cry with them, see them get married and have families of their own. Because of that, the day seems sacred to me.
This year, a large part of me is annoyed at the TV stations capitalizing on the deaths of so many. Part of me knows that in 50 years, this will be as obscure to the new generation as the Vietnam war is to mine... whatever mixed feelings I have about the day, it's a piece of our history that we who lived during that time will carry into the future, just as our grandparents and great grandparents carried tragedies from their lifetimes...
The 10 year anniversary...
I didn't feel the need to post anything regarding my feelings on the day, as I 'm sure no one in my American reading audience (ye brave, ye few) has forgotten what happened in 2001. I watched a tasteful memorial on ESPN done during the Giants game on Sunday, took a moment and talked with My Sailor about our memories of that day, and then looked forward. I didn't sit in front of the TV and watch footage replayed over and over again. I remember too well hearing a DJ break down sobbing when I turned on the radio on my way to the gym that morning. At first I thought it was a prank the morning show was doing - then they announced a 2nd plane had just hit the World Trade Center...
And then I called my mom to ask if my dad, who was traveling on the East Coast, was okay... She said she didn't know. No one was able to get ahold of him... for six... long hours. Meanwhile, I tried to work. At the time, I was planning on getting married in a few months. In the back of my mind, I was fighting the practical mindset which was trying to prepare me to walk down the aisle without my father.
That morning, for the first time I've ever heard of, Dad missed his flight out.
When news finally trickled back that he was okay, and that he would be continuing on his business trip the next day, renting a car to drive to Canada and fly out of there - part of me was furious he wasn't staying put, part of me was furious he wasn't heading home to the West Coast, but the rest of me 'got it'. "We can't let this stop us. If we do, 'they' win."
Today, I'm proud of his decision to carry on.
But the fear and paralyzing terror from that day isn't ten years away on any level. After all, my father is safe when so many mothers and fathers won't be there to be annoyed with their kids, hug them, laugh with them, cry with them, see them get married and have families of their own. Because of that, the day seems sacred to me.
This year, a large part of me is annoyed at the TV stations capitalizing on the deaths of so many. Part of me knows that in 50 years, this will be as obscure to the new generation as the Vietnam war is to mine... whatever mixed feelings I have about the day, it's a piece of our history that we who lived during that time will carry into the future, just as our grandparents and great grandparents carried tragedies from their lifetimes...
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While I agree there were a lot of shows that were truly capitalizing on the tragedy, there were some really good shows that were put out for the remembrance too. There were some great documentaries about the new Freedom Tower and the 9/11 Memorial and celebrating those lives and how as a country we are moving forward and not letting it stop us or freeze the country in terror.
ReplyDeleteI agree that we will probably never forget what we were doing that day 10 years ago or the terror and tragedy that it brought with it, but it will fade as the younger generations grow up and before you know it, it will just be something that is taught in history class...Funny how history works that way as each generation is further removed from the events.
No matter what you did to remember, the fact that you took a moment to remember those lost and those left behind is all that really matters in the end.