Romance worth killing for

I had a host of blog topic ideas for today's post, but when I got up this morning and flipped on the news, I realized everything writing-related I could possibly talk about would be overshadowed by today's anniversary.

In some ways it's hard to believe the events of September 11th happened five long years ago. In other ways, it feels like they happened yesterday. I live on the West Coast, and as such was not directly impacted by the terrorist attacks, but I know people who were. I have friends who were in New York when it happened. I have friends who live in Washington DC, relatives in Pennsylvania. My girlfriend's husband was on business in New York that week. He'd been in Tower One the day before the attack and was scheduled to be there again the afternoon of the eleventh. His life was spared simply because he'd made his appointment for the afternoon instead of the morning.

We all have stories, we all know someone who was directly impacted, who was there, who lost someone they loved. And no matter where you were that morning, you will never forget what you saw and felt and heard every time the images were replayed on television. But did it change your life? Our world is a different place today than it was five years ago. In many ways our country is stronger, we banded together in grief, we supported each other no matter our background or political affiliation. I for one, was overcome with emotion in the way Americans came together after that day. But in the long years since, there are days I wonder if people remember that fact. Especially in parts of the country - like my home state of Oregon - where terrorism isn't a major threat, where we don't think about our national security every single day. Our country is divided on so many fronts, over social issues at home, political ones overseas. What will it take to bring us back together? To make us remember?

There's a memorial going on at the waterfront park in my town. A group has erected thousands of flags in memory of those who died on 9-11. Each flag stands almost six feet high, marked with the names of every person who died that day, and the display covers the entire park. I took my boys to see it over the weekend, and the sight brought tears to my eyes. I plan to take my daughter to see it tonight after school. She was only two on September 11th, 2001, but she remembers. I want to make sure she doesn't forget.

How will you mark today's anniversary? I hope you, like me, take a moment to remember. To never forget those who died that day, and those who put their lives on the line every day since then to protect our freedom.

:~: Monday, September 11, 2006 :~:

Never Forget

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