A Message on Rememberance

I know we are all very busy, but if I could take a few minutes of your day, I wanted to share a few thoughts about today's date. As a warning: the below is mostly lighthearted, but there are some potentially distressing reflections for those with traumatic memories of the September 11th terrorist attacks.?

Today marks the 23rd year since the terrorist attacks in 2001. There was, and continues to be, a mantra about that day of "Never Forget." For many of us, I think forgetting what happened would be difficult to do.??

I still recall the weather that morning. I remember what I was wearing. It was a grey polo believe it or not (this distinct lack of style is deep-rooted). ?I remember being put into lockdown after the first plane crash and our teacher putting the news on TV "for the rest of the day." Until they showed a replay of the second plane hitting the South Tower, after which they quickly decided non-stop doom-streaming news to students was maybe not a good idea. I remember one of my classmates sobbing when we heard that the Pentagon, where her father worked, had been hit.?

After the initial shock, there were intense feelings of fear, anger, loss. But for me the biggest emotion was a fear of the future. Was this going to be our generation's Pearl Harbor? Another entry into another Great War? What did this mean for my family, and for other military families I knew? As protective as I felt for our country, I spent a great deal of time worrying about what would be next.?

After the attacks, many answered a growing call to serve, with over 250,000 Americans signing up for active duty and the reserves. We mobilized for action and in a rush to publicly respond to the attacks, began what would become one of the most costly conflicts (in financial and human impacts) in our nation's history, eclipsing even the U.S. financial investment of World War 2 and leading to the second largest displacement of humans in the last century.?

I bring these numbers up because despite them, I've realized that remembrance will only fade as time goes on (which seems like a really obvious point to make), but the generation born after September 11, 2001 entered the workforce a few years ago and brings with them a collective memory that doesn't include that day or American life before it. Even aside from them, I've had conversations in the past year with others who were old enough to remember, but couldn't recall the year the attacks took place.?

In these situations I sometimes feel the need to shout from the rooftops "we promised we would never forget!" But in recent years I've tried to put more thought towards, "what is important to remember?" Surely those citizens who lost their lives that day, but what else does the day mean? Is it an exercise in celebrating our ability to come together and heal as a people? Is it a bitter reflection on the dangers of reactive nationalism. Is it a time to remember and thank those who committed themselves to the fight to ensure our country remained safe??

Years ago I visited my mother's house on a random day in mid-April and she had candles lit in memorium of something. I asked her who died, and she said it was in somber reflection of those who lost their lives on the Titanic. I laughed at her when she said it and asked if she had a day of reflection for the Hindenburg as well. I thought the idea absurd at the time, but I've come to the realization over the years that while days of remembrance are about the fallen, they are for the living.??

It has become my opinion that whatever these days mean to you, the most important thing is that we take time to reflect on who we were, what we lost, who we became, and who we want to be. That exercise in the brief moments we can take it is, I think, the best way to honor those we lost on this and any other day of remembrance.?

For myself: I was hopeful about our future as a people. I wanted to study animals. I lost a sense of safety that has never really recovered. Those events pushed me into wanting to commit to a life of service to community and country. It's why I've focused on nonprofit and government work as a career. And one of the many reasons I feel so protective of our nation's Veterans. People who served in a way that I did not after that event. Who chose to run towards danger rather than away from it. I'm proud of the decisions I've made in reaction to that day, but the journey through the years has made me more sensitive to the fact that personal safety can't always be enough. It's essential to think about ?the human impacts of conflict on all sides. These days I spend this anniversary in somber reflection of not just those who lost their lives that day, but all who have lost their lives because of that day. And in a time where it is exceedingly difficult to do so, I dream of a day we can all strive to be better as a species. And to find ways to ensure that innocent lives are never an acceptable cost of conflict.??

If you find time on this day, I invite you to remember, and think on what it means to you. If you feel comfortable, please share, but even if you keep it to yourself, I hope you find some personal healing in the exercise.?

-Ernest