Shame On Us If We Ever Forget

After a very long and busy week I woke up Sunday with only one thought in mind…watching hours and hours of football.  Then I turned on the TV and quickly realized the NFL was the second priority of the day.  The first was at the least taking a moment to reflect on the 21^st anniversary of the most horrific day in the history of America as nearly 3,000 innocent people were murdered by terrorists.

How for even a moment could I forget?  If you are over the age of 30 or so you likely remember just where you were when you heard the news that a plane had crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.  17 minutes later another plane hit the South Tower and any thought that it was an accident was erased…this was clearly a terrorist attack.

I don’t need to take you through it but I was bothered by the fact that I woke up and that was not the first thing on my mind.  Unfortunately even an event as significant as this one tends to fade from some memories if you were not directly impacted.  However as I watched the annual reading of the names from what was once Ground Zero it should be obvious that for many 21 years might as well be 21 days as the loss of loved ones is still painful and the anniversary brings it all back.

What resonates with me the most if those who pay tribute to a father or mother they never knew as they were very young or not even born after their parent perished on that horrible day.

One of the attributes that many have is the ability to be resilient and move on even in the face of tragedy.  But at the same time we must not forget the feelings we all had while watching the events of 9/11 unfold in what was virtually our backyard.

We owe it to all of those who died that day after afterwards, especially the first responders who ran into buildings while others ran out.