Remembering 911

It’s been 21 years since that unimaginable morning on the 11th of September… and each year, on this date, we take a moment to remember. Family members remember loved ones lost…permanently taken from their view… The rest of us remember people we never knew. Memories of their joy and laughter deliver some relief… bringing with them a little comfort as they usher in our grief. For it is precisely those memories of joy and laughter that spread out from each family member… to those who were not born yet and those who were too young to remember. Memories of an uncle, a brother, a sister, a father or a wife… that takes a person they knew… or never knew they lost… and brings their spirit back to life. “He was my best friend…I loved him.” “She was smart and funny and wise.” “You have your mother’s smile.” “You have your father’s eyes.” Perhaps it is each memory of a moment with a loved one shared that help us through the moments without them… when we’re sad, lonely…or scared. Perhaps it is each memory passed from me…to you…to you… that can make a person remember and miss… someone they never knew. Perhaps that’s why we take a moment every 9/11 to remember a day in our lives so contemptible… so unthinkable… so misbegotten… so the lives of those we lost that day… will never be forgotten.