never forget

I hope the day never comes when September 11 approaches and people don’t stop to recall the weight of that day. The world changed forever in a matter of a little less than 2 hours, and though I was thousands of miles away from the attacks, I wept and grieved with the rest of America, mourning the nearly 3,000 killed and missing and the loss of our innocence as a nation. Until that day, foreign terrorist attacks on our soil were unheard of – they were reserved for tumultuous countries many lands and waters away. We are a different world than on September 10, 2001.

The attacks on that day are one of the few “where were you when…?” moments that each of us likely remembers in excruciating detail. It is amazing to me how the people and places of those memories will stick with us years and years later. I was in the Chi O house getting ready for my Mississippi History class when Emily Jones (now Emily Hutton) came in my room to tell me about it. She said her dad called her as soon as he heard, and we tuned into CNN, our eyes glued to the TV, practically holding our breath while the day’s events unfolded. I will never forget that day, nor should I. Nor should anyone.

Eight years later, we as a people, as a country, as a world, still reel from the effects of September 11, 2001. We were all New Yorkers that day, no one a democrat or republican – there was only room for Americans, and we embraced each other like never before and haven’t since. I can’t help but think that today we are the antithesis of who we were that day and days after – now polarized, antagonistic, self-serving. Just for today, shouldn‘t we put aside heated debate and honor those fallen? Let us forget who we are now and remember who we were then.

Celebrate your great American spirit this weekend!