I can't write a post on September 11, 2019 that doesn't harken to September 11, 2001. I wasn't in NYC that day. Nobody in my family worked in the Towers or as police or firefighters in NYC. One could say that I wasn't directly affected by the terrorist attacks carried out that day.
But we were all affected. I was here in Lakeville, teaching a class of tenth graders. Two kids in the room were celebrating their birthdays. (Stop. Think about that.) Partway through class, a woman who worked in the Admission Office poked her head into the classroom and asked me to step into the hallway for a second. She told me about the first tower.
Not knowing what to do, I went back into the room and kept teaching. I didn't want to give bad news to the kids. I didn't know what to say, so I said nothing. Sometimes, my ability to stay the course is not a good thing. This was one of those times.
That day may not have taken the lives of people I know, but it changed our world profoundly. The choices those terrorists made divided the human timeline into before 9-11 and after 9-11. We can't ever go back to the innocence, but we can contemplate the change.
- I don't have to know those who died to honor their memory.
- I don't have to know the police and firefighters who worked to save others to be awed at their sacrifices.
- I don't have to have been on the scene to understand how the scene has changed us all.
On September 11, 2001, I was pregnant with my second daughter. I wondered what kind of world I was bringing this baby into. Now, with so much gun violence, I still wonder about what kind of world we live in. I don't have any answers, except maybe gratitude for what the terrorists can't take away from us: love, hope, kindness. What are your thoughts on this important day?