It's the second-month anniversary of the attrocities in New York and D.C.
Two months have passed and life has finally seemed to settle back to a sense of normalcy. Friends are dealing with personal woes, family members are celebrating their kids' birthdays, people are going to church, employees are clocking in, governments are still working in ways unseen...
Two months ago this nation was united in anticipation of what the next day might bring. Collectively, we were all holding our breaths, not sure what to expect minute to minute. Now, things seem normal again. Our sense of cultural, national, personal, familial, religious and societal identity was shaken to its core, but now it's standing firm again.
This nation is so young, comparatively speaking. The US has been around only 225 years, which isn't that long as the age of nations goes. We are still adolescent in many ways, as a nation. And, like any teenager, we are finding that we are more resilient than others would expect us to be in times of hardship.
We have been rocked to our very foundation and still we stand.
Question: Is it good to feel so safe so soon?
On the first-month anniversary, October 11, 2001, the place I work at was fairly empty. Tonight it was hopping with business. Sports was airing on TV, sitcoms were being rerun, food was being ordered, drinks were being consumed... as if nothing could be wrong or ever was wrong before. Have our memories grown so short, a holdover of the MTV Generation, or is America's citizenry purposely trying to forget that there is a carpet beneath our feet that can be pulled out from under us at any moment?
The world is a dangerous place. I still wonder what tomorrow will bring. When people tell me, "Hey, I'll see you tomorrow" I wonder if they truly expect that. My faith in tomorrow is as firm as it ever was... I just don't know if I'll be around to see it or if anyone will.
We can never forget. We lose a little bit of ourselves when we do.