Twelve years ago today, I was three years old. I wasn't old enough to understand, or really even to remember that day, but I was the perfect age to remember the aftermath. I think that when something terrible happens, such as 9/11, we all have a different perception of it. Obviously, adults are going to remember that day differently then kids, and kids of different ages will remember different things.
For those my age, those who were toddlers then, we don't have that memory of that day like those older then us. But, at the same time, it's far more immediate to us then it is to kids who weren't even born yet.
For me, 9/11 is not something I ever remember learning about. I have heard people talk about how to tell their kids about it, and that never happened to me. It was always something that was there, it was part of life. It's not just something to read about in a textbook for me, it's something that is still too immediate for that.
We live in a post 9/11 world, a world where we are all too quick to think the worst of people. Those my age, who are teenagers now, becoming young adults, were all young kids 12 years ago. We grew up in the aftermath. We grew up in a world of fear. We can't just dismiss all the people who are afraid, because we grew up in a world that taught us that fear was the best option. And, when we really try to think about why we are so afraid, we remember all the people who died. The fear is not with out reason.
Today is a day to remember all of those people who died that day, and to remember all the people they left behind. It's a day to remember why we, as a country, are so afraid, and to remember that fear has its time and place, but that it should not consume us. We should spend not today worrying about what might be, but rather remembering what was.
Today we need to tell every person who lost a loved one that day: We have not forgotten.
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