I was in first grade when terrorists attacked the United States and the Twin Towers fell. I remember nothing. My mom tells me she tried her best to shield it from me-- brought my younger sister and I home from school and had us hang out and have fun for the day. I don’t think I watched any television for that whole week. She explained to me the best she could what had happened but, as a six-year-old I wasn’t that interested. If it didn’t have to do with my next playdate or the newest addition to my dress up box, I wasn’t that concerned.
What six-year-old would understand such a tragedy? At that age I could understand that something bad had happened that made many people very sad. But I couldn’t understand the gravity of the situation and all that would change because of it; I couldn’t process the fear that it brought to the whole country.
It took me 12 years to fully understand the tragedy that is September 11, 2001. After I graduated from high school my grandmother and I took a trip to New York City and on one of our last days there went to see the National September 11 Memorial. That trip put it all in perspective. Three thousand people died that day, heroes were made that day, families were broken that day, so much changed that day. Americans came together, it was a country in shock and mourning. It was a country that was doing everything it could to step up and be strong for each other.
Ground Zero is a surreal place, it is a place for reflection and remembrance. It’s eerily silent and a bit serene especially in comparison to the frantic nature of New York City. I understand a lot more now, 9/11 changed our nation.
Sometimes I wonder how my life would be different without such a tragedy having ever taken place. Would there still be so much security at the airport? Would we be a more accepting nation, be less paranoid of cultural and religious differences? What would be different without 9/11, what would be the same?
Someday this pain will merely become a chapter in a textbook, another date to remember for a history test. But as my generation will be one of the last to remember, it is our job to make sure that no one forgets. 9/11 is a day that defined our country, it's a day that showed the power of mankind. Both mankind’s capacity for cruelty and its impulse for compassion. Someday many years from now 9/11 won’t have the same impact that it does today but it will always serve as a reminder of the power of a nation that comes together in the face of tragedy.
