Of Course We Remember

Today is the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. The news shows and papers are filled with remembrances and commentary. Various television outlets have spent the last week airing every sort of documentary and fictionalized account of the attack you can imagine. We are being bombarded with images of one of the worst days in this country's history. I know this is an important day, and I know the news media needs to cover it, but does anyone really think that we've forgotten what happened?

I've been struggling all day to figure out how I would write about this. I don't want to add this post to the list of trite commentary that tells us how "our lives were changed forever." Of course they were, on a number of levels. No one who lived through that day will ever forget it. We were living in Los Angeles in 2001. "Wife" had gotten up for work and I was still sleeping at 6:46. The phone ringing woke me up and I'm sure I uttered some choice words, wondering what kind of inconsiderate oaf would be calling at that ungodly hour. Suddenly "Wife" burst through the bedroom door telling me to wake up. Her sister had called from Michigan to tell us that the country was under attack and rumors were that L.A. and other large cities were next. I remember laying in bed watching the news and like all of us, not believing what I was seeing. Wife left for work, but was home about fifteen minutes later. Her boss had called and told her that all the buildings in downtown L.A. were being evacuated and that she needed to go home. Nervously we walked "Daughter" to kindergarten, secure in the knowledge that we were only a couple blocks away if we needed to get her.

The rest of the day, and the majority of that next week were spent watching the news. We tried to do things around the house and make the day productive, but information kept streaming in, and we needed to know what was happening. We tried the best we could to explain everything to "Daughter", but a five year old only needs to know so much. I know I'm not alone when I say I cried a lot that week. I would cry when I saw generals and law enforcement officials, men who had seen horrible things countless times, break down. Other times I would cry just thinking of how terrifying it must have been for the victims, or hearing about the fire and police personnel who ran in. We all wondered what we would have done.

The point is, I remember. I know you do too. I don't think we need the constant stream of images thrown at us. I'm not saying we shouldn't remember. Maybe it's because the wound is still relatively fresh. In the whole scheme of things, five years is nothing. In ten, twenty, forty years, we'll still remember, but then perhaps time will have taken a little more of the pain away. Unlike the Pearl Harbor attack, we all saw this one played out right before our eyes, and so that gives it more weight. "Daughter" had "Red, White, and Blue Day" at school today. I think that's a good thing for kids. It helps them remember, while not dwelling on the horror. We all remember and we always will. Later...Brian