It is not like remembering where you parked, or to get butter on a trip to the grocery store. Any of us who were alive at the time are going to remember – whether it be a picture perfect September morning, or when the towers sneak their way into any movie that is now more than ten years old.
Ten years later, Remembrance Day was inescapable. My wife and I are not ready to explain it to my four-year-old son. The TV and radio were silent with the exception of his favorite band, The Beatles.
The media can be forgiven for the constant drumbeat on the anniversary. There are thousands of stories and angles from people who were there or lost loved ones, to people like me who was annoyed at being pulled into a morning meeting in the conference room, only to see that it wasn’t a meeting.
The stories ask the questions, but do not answer them. All this time later we are still trying to make sense of a series of premeditated unkind and evil acts. We want there to be a simple explanation – an attack on our freedom. We want there to be a simple response – we won’t let the terrorists win. On Remembrance Day it is not so simple: the attacks shook the core of what we believed about ourselves. The attacks were pre-meditated, but the victims were random. If they were carried out on 9/10 or 9/12, different people would have been mourned, and maybe a different outcome for Flight 93.
On 9/12 we spoke of unity and cooperation. We vowed to never forget. We went to war to stop further attacks. The economy crumbled. Natural disasters flooded cities and burned states. Our political climate has given rise to true believers who do not promote unity and cooperation. At what point do we remember the lesson of 9/12?
