The 9/11 feeling.

This week marked the first week of school for students in much of our area.  The benefit in working in education is that one is always learning. You can't escape the knowledge that is around you even if you tried.

My favorite history teachers and dear friends Pam and Jamie decided to open up their school year with a creative timeline activity. As you walk into the classroom there is a giant timeline of events that have affected US history spanning over centuries. Students receive an index card describing and event and must go find the matching date.

As I looked at the “9/11/01” date, I got “the feeling.” It is a feeling only associated with images, stories, or any mention of an American tragedy that still occurs in my mind as if it happened yesterday. As I glanced at all the other dates on the timeline, something occurred to me. For the bulk of the events listed, most people only HEARD about what happened from a newspaper, a picture, or from reading it in a book. If they happened post-television, perhaps they saw an evening news cast or a special report. 

9/11/01 changed not only the fabric of our nation in countless ways, but I believe has transformed our relationship to history. We now live, breathe, experience, and witness history as if it were all happening right in our own backyard. The images of 9/11 are branded in our minds, haunting us with a desire to understand or comprehend an event so overwhelming. Through watching 9/11 unfold and hearing the stories from the survivors later we are invited to experience history as our own.

Growing up I remember my dad often recounting where he had been on November 22^nd 1963. He could tell you where he was the day President Kennedy was assassinated, what he felt, and so on. This is especially significant, because my Dad can’t tell you what he had for lunch (perhaps my grandmother can tell you exactly what he had) but yes he can recreate a day when he was merely 15 years old. I didn't understand how someone could remember such detail until I experienced September 11th with the rest of a nation shocked and baffled by history minute by minute. 

While I of course want to honor the dignity and the memory of the lives lost, each year I am not so welcoming of “the feeling" I get when I think of 9/11. Though at times I know it is necessary to connect to it so as to rightfully honor those who perished, and the heroes that emerged. One thing I will do today in the midst of mourning is appreciate each little nuance around me. I will savor the tastes, moments, people, and experiences of one more day that those who perished will never get the chance to enjoy.

I also wish three wonderful people – David P. Long , Shemayne Williams, and Lanie Celenza Suky happy birthday today. Three amazing human beings have to share a happy day with a sad day for the rest of their lives. I celebrate them in the midst of “the feeling.” God Bless America.