As the tenth anniversary approached, I found myself trying to avoid thinking about that day in 2001. I stopped watching TV several days ago, but this morning I realized I couldn’t simply tune out by not watching. For that day and its anniversaries, however many years pass, will always be sharp and clear in my memory. Many of the tributes say “Never Forget,” but that admonishment is not really needed.Each of us will always remember in vivid detail where we were and how we were feeling that sunny September morning with all its wonderful promise. I was staying at my daughter, Ginger’s house in North Carolina to care for the children while she was at a business conference in Maryland. My husband, Will, had just returned from walking the kids to the bus stop.
I remember feeling a wonderful sense of the whole day stretched out ahead of the two of us. I took my second cup of coffee into the living room to slowly sip it and watch the “Today” show. When Katie Couric announced a plane had crashed into one of the Towers, I initially believed it was a tragic accident.
But when the second plane hit, I knew. A wave of cold washed over me, taking me back in time to a November day when my neighbor ran from her upstairs apartment shouting that John F. Kennedy had been shot. I held nineteen-month-old Ginger tightly and hurried inside. I felt the same fear and panic then as when I watched the terrible tragedy on 9/11.
And so, I turn on the TV to be a witness for those who died that day, as well as for those who loved them. The empty space in their lives will never be filled, but remembering and sharing that with those who care can help. Throughout it all, the thread of all the brave and unselfish giving throughout that day and the days following weaves a ray of hope. I cry, too.
We will never forget, but we will go on.
