Eighth Anniversary of September 11 Attacks on the WTC and Pentagon

I am surprised at how emotional I still am on this day. I'm not a New Yorker, I was in the middle of the country on that day, tending my father who was in ICU with meningitis....I had my own personal attack going on, but still, to stand in his bay and watch the coverage, to struggle to find my brother, partner, and my oldest friend, and to make sure my mom was safe in DC, was almost a Herculean effort. So much didn't work on that day. So much fear and uncertainty. And since, so many folks who still struggle with this day. Who seem to have PTSD-like symptoms. The effects of that day are long and deep, and for many will not die til they do.

In New York and in Federal government, it is a hallowed day. Everywhere else, it seems business as usual. Even Google didn't post an image over the letters to remember the day. That was surprising to me. And there's much talk of withdrawing from Afghanistan, where, I thought, Osama Bin Laden was hiding. I never advocate war, but of all the military efforts, I believe this should be one to pursue.

In two weeks, I'll go back to NYC after 17 years away, and I'll go to Ground Zero. Despite the fact it is basically a construction site, it is filled with the memories of those who were lost there, who fought to save there, who ministered there, and who still visit to remember. As with so many of our greatest military victories or defeats, their memories are what teach how to move forward. Our parents were always saying how important it was to 'learn a lesson from this'. And so I wonder if we have....and what will be the result if we haven't.