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One day we will forget.
One day it will be only the day on the calendar between September 10 and September 12.
One day, we won't remember the moments of the day. The minute each plane hit its target. The moment each World Trade Center collapsed. The moment the Pentagon erupted in flames.
One day New York won't reschedule a primary election because it falls on September 11. (Even now, in 2018, our primary, instead of today, will be held on Thursday).
No, don't be angry at me. I will remember September 11 for the rest of my life. I remember it every year. First, it was my father in law's birthday (although he was no longer with us on that day.) Then, it became the day I watched in horror (after my employer hastily located a television) as the second tower fell, later finding out that one of my co workers lost his son on that day. His daughter in law was pregnant. Other people I know lost loved ones. 13 people who went to my high school died that day. Two of them left pregnant spouses.
Those children and others will be turning 17 in the next few months, and this is the point I want to make. It is a point we may not like, but it is a point that history teaches us.
Our children will forget. Or maybe our grandchildren. It is happening right before our eyes.
Today, I think of those who are still dying as a result of 9/11. Yes, thousands of first responders and others are still suffering aftereffects today. They are still dying from cancer and other 9/11 related illnesses, even as they fight for extensions of deadlines set by Congress: December 18, 2020.
How do you put a deadline on cancer? And the ironic part? We speculate that the one plane that did not reach its target, Flight 93 memorialized above, was headed towards the Capital building when its heroic passengers fought the hijackers for control of the plane. May they rest in peace, in a field in Western Pennsylvania, forever.
But one day, all those who experienced 9/11 will be gone, unable to give further testimony.
My son was middle school aged on September 11, 2001, and he remembers. But those children who were two or three on that day, will they remember? Will the 11 year olds, unless they lost a family member and 9/11 remembrance is something their families do every day? Do you think the schools are teaching 9/11? Some are. Some aren't. How about those homeschooling? But even by learning at home or in a school building, 9/11 will never have the same meaning to them as it does to us. They live in a post 9/11 world. The day itself will eventually be empty of the meaning we, who were alive then, give it.
And maybe that isn't totally a bad thing.
As long as we give the day meaning, true meaning, and incorporate that meaning into our daily lives, our children will remember the meaning. But they will turn that memory into something that matters to them, the generation that wasn't yet born. They only know a post 9/11 world. We can never truly know what that means, to know a world from before that date we observe today.
Our world isn't theirs.
They will remember, but not the way we do. Our job is to make sure they know about the day and its meaning, and let them sort it out. Keep in mind that the children born on September 11, 2001, will turn 18 on September 11, 2019, and will be granted the right to vote.
I hope they will use that power of the vote well.
But for now, my generation, and yours, will remember those innocents who died on that day.
(Part of this post was originally posted on September 11, 2012).
Thank goodness for elections. My New York friend worked in one of the smaller buildings that came down along with the towers. He stopped to vote on the way in to his office. I couldn't reach him on his cell and was worried sick all day about him. It must have been awful for all those families. No, doubt that I will forget it in my lifetime.
ReplyDeleteI remember the worry so well, as I tried to contract those I knew who worked in the area (they all survived). My husband, who was off work that day, tried to reach a couple of them himself. The phone lines were tied up for hours where I live in upstate New York with no way to get through to NYC.
DeleteBeautiful post, Alana.
ReplyDeleteThe painful lessons. We may forget the immediate pain, but I hope we never forget--or allow the next generations to forget--what we've learned.
Exactly. Thank you.
DeleteI will always remember the acts of kindness, bravery, and caring that happened that day. That's what I try to tell people about when they ask me about the day - people doing what they could to help each other, crucial counter to the hatred and fear.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I knew many who were unwilling witnesses at the scene, I can never fully imagine it myself. I had nightmares for months. Even today, I still have emotions to sort out.
DeleteAlana, they didn’t move the primary because it’s 9/11, they moved it because today is the second day of Rosh Hashanah.
ReplyDeleteBut yes, someday people will treat 9/11 the same way we think of December 7, the day that will live in infamy.
I’m not at work today due to the holiday, but I’ve spent many 9/11 anniversaries in lower Manhattan. It can be quite intense. The changes I’ve seen in that neighborhood...
Thank you for your clarification. Turns out I was half right but that's not the same as being fully right. A local paper stated that the primary was moved for both reasons (the 9/11 date and falling on Rosh Hashanah). Shows you how far I've strayed from my roots in not realizing the Rosh Hashanah connection. So thank you. https://auburnpub.com/blogs/eye_on_ny/eye-on-ny-here-s-why-ny-primary-will-be/article_9251416a-97e4-11e8-b488-1f8a40063157.html
DeleteThis years' high school seniors were babies when it happened. My niece, now a senior was three months old. No high school student remembers. But they know.
ReplyDeleteIt'll be like D-Day, VE-Day, yes...we'll have to have forgotten a lot of other things first. Those not doomed to Alzheimer's Disease will probably have forgotten to breathe.
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