Never forget

Nine years ago, I woke up to my mother shouting that I needed to come to her room quick. As I walked into her room and saw her sitting on the bed watching the little TV in there, we heard the announcer cry out that a plane had flown into the second tower. I didn’t think it was for real at first, maybe a movie or something, but my mom’s face made it clear that it was very real. I remember sitting in class that day with all of us quietly watching the TV and praying for those in the buildings, and those making rescue efforts. I remember wondering what would happen next, knowing that this event would change everything.

I was right, and I was wrong. So much has changed, some for better and some for worse, and so many things that should have changed never did. I know I would have laughed in your face if you’d suggested we would be debating the merits of building a celebration mosque near the location in less than a decade. I would have been wrong.

Doesn’t seem like nine years ago. Seems like a few days ago, a haunting shadow that so many people seem so eager to try to brush under a rug.

Don’t gloss  over that day. Use today, the anniversary of that horrific event, to pray for those who still suffer the consequences of what happened there – the rescuers who became sick and their families, all the soldiers overseas fighting to make sure that it never happens again. Learn from history, so that it may never be repeated.

Never forget.