Day 766 Never Forget

 

Every September 11th I wake up with a feeling of being gut punched. How different life was prior to this horrific day of senseless attacks. Each year people vow to never forget, but as time goes by, the images seem to fade into our history. Life goes on, a generation of young adults may or may not realize that the events of that one day changed their lives forever. Our great country has overcome tremendous challenges throughout history and I'm sure there will be more ahead. Each election season we appear to be divided between two parties, usually choosing what we see as the lesser of two evils in the political choices given. We're analogous to a large dysfunctional family, we argue, disagree on almost everything, erupt into violent rages now and again but when pushed by any external force, we unit. The love felt throughout our nation in the months following the attacks was palatable. We hugged one another, cried together, vowed to take care of each other, fight our common enemy as one and never forget. Waking up on the anniversary of 9/11 each year, These are the feelings that come rushing back to me, pride in my country, love and connection to all Americans and vows to never let this tragedy be forgotten. I put on my best stars and strips outfit, and was admittedly sad when people questioned why I looked so patriotic. These were full grown adults asking and were clearly embarrassed when I replied with, "It's September 11th"....need I say more? There's talk of making the date a national holiday, not sure why it's taken so long. My guess is in the future, it will become a holiday, a day off from work and eventually for big ticket item sales, similar to our Memorial Day sales. Maybe it's a good thing, life goes on, pain becomes more tolerable or is it we just learn to live with it? Remembering a tragedy is so much more than posting a photo of remembrance to facebook then carrying on with your day as usual. Twenty three years, a lifetime for some, two minutes ago for others. It's my wish that our younger generation never experiences a day like 9/11, that they live blissfully unaware of the evil in our world and feel the protection of our American Flag as if a blanket of security throughout their lives. Hopefully, those that are old enough to remember the day still hold a piece of the love we all shared and the vows we made to one another to never forget.