Every year on September 11th, my Facebook feed floods with an overwhelming amount of tribute pictures. Some mourning, some thanking, some just remembering. This year, I saw a lot of posts about the "new normal" America. Countless posts and even more comments all remembering the "old" America, and reflecting on the idea of this "new normal."
It was a normal morning for me. My grandma got me up for school while my dad drank his coffee on the front porch in his silly Scooby Doo pajama pants. She brushed my hair back into a ponytail and clipped my favorite white bow in. After I'd had my too-big-for-a-six-year-old glass of orange juice I made my way out the door and onto the bus. I don't remember anything different about that day at school. I don't remember my teacher turning on the news channel or my principal making an announcement over the speakers. I don't remember anything abnormal about that evening at home, either.
For me, the horrible events of 9/11 didn't happen only once, but over and over as my understanding of what happened that day has grown with my years. From the moment I learned that someone hadn't accidentally ran into the towers to when I realized that they weren't empty when it happened. And that people weren't immediately rushed to the hospital, but that hours and days passed as they continued to search for people in the rubble. More and more of these baffling, heartbreaking realizations building upon each other, so that even though it may have been 15 years since the attacks, they are renewed and replayed in mind as every single new realization reveals another piece of a horrific picture that I just could not see when I was five years old.
See, for me, there is no "new normal." It's just normal. I have never known a world where we weren't at war. We were told that violence was never the answer, but we watched as our military invaded country after country- losing soldier after soldier. It was sad, but this had always been normal to us. As we grew, the war grew with us.
On the other hand, we also watched as America chose to stand together. To stand as one during the saddest time in American history. Overwhelming patriotism swept across the nation just shortly after that dreary day.
Here we are, 15 Septembers later. This year, middle school students will learn about the attacks of September 11th, 2001 as a historical event that happened before they were born. That's something I can't even wrap my mind around.
Maybe it's time for America to lay down the weapons, put to rest the hatred and idea of revenge, and simply remember.
