Anniversaries in some cases are a time to celebrate.
Others are times to remember the unhappy times or major events in our lives or in history.
Today marks the seventh anniversary of 9/11.
It’s etched in our memories.
Those memories may fade with time, but we don’t expect they will ever go away.
But for some reason with anniversaries, the “odd years” are harder to get a handle on for some of us.
The first anniversary is easy. The fifth and the 10th and so on seem easier to “mark.”
But the first several paragraphs in an Associated Press story written to mark this “seventh” anniversary of 9/11 seems to capture the moment for us.
“It is not a tidy anniversary this year. Seven years between that awful day and this Sept. 11, the terrorist attacks linger somewhere between the immediate, a conscious part of our days, and the comfortable remove of the distant past. No longer yesterday and not yet history.
“What happened seven years ago colors American life today. There are the two wars, of course. But in smaller ways, too: We sing ‘God Bless America’ at the ballpark. We weigh ‘evil’ as a campaign issue. We slip off our shoes at airport security, buy the zip-top bag for liquids and gels.
“And yet there is an unmistakable distance now. No one speaks of the ‘new normal’ anymore. All of those things are just normal.”
But we hope for all of us the “normal” doesn’t mean we won’t forget. We can’t.
That day changed our lives forever.
Some of us were personally affected because we knew somebody who died or because we had a friend or relative who was there in New York or in Washington or in Pennsylvania.
Here, in the Pee Dee, there will be ceremonies to remember the day.
The Florence Fire Department will take time to honor the fire fighters who perished trying to help.
Other events will occur — some public and some private — as we take time out to say a special prayer and to think about those who died.
But the attacks did change our world, and we can’t go back.
We have to face the issues, and we have to deal with them.
It’s part of the debate in the presidential election and it should be as well as in those running for Congress.
It’s an issue for us here at home as emergency responders and other agencies implement and update plans for what might happen in the future.
Today, though, we hope everyone puts aside politics and takes a moment to recognize those who died — especially those who tried to come to the aid of others.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement