Revisiting the 9/11 Memorial – Why it’s important to #NeverForget

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#NeverForget

I was in New York City with my family in 2012 and we went to see the 9/11 Memorial site.  It has to be one of the most amazing memorials I have ever visited in my life.  When I was in Washington, DC with my son a year after that, we absolutely loved the Korean War and majestic Vietnam War Memorial but I have to say the impact of the 9/11 pools is mesmerising. If you are interested in reading the impressions that this visit made on us, you can read the post here.

It is September 11th,2014 and another anniversary is being commemorated today.  My son walked in today from school and mentioned that they were talking about this historic day.  I said: “I was with you that day, you were sleeping peacefully beside me.  I was in be watching TV and talking to Uncle Paul.  We were watching in disbelief, utter disbelief that this could be happening.  We talked about how the one tower came down and then we watched stunned as we saw the second tower come down.”  I have shivers just writing those words… It makes me so sad.  I have always said, this was the ‘Kennedy moment’ of my generation.  [As in, where were you when the you first heard about 9/11].

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I told my son, at that moment in time, I knew the world he had just entered into a mere 3 months before was now changed forever.  It is not that we hadn’t had conflicts before but they were conflicts about other countries, about other crazy government or dictators, about other people.  But now, that September 11 in 2001 made it more about ‘us’.  It is about Americans at first but being Canadian we have an almost symbiotic existence so it is about us too.

We live in a world in which refugee camps throughout the world are an acceptable standard of care for those in conflict ridden countries.  We live in a world that places a greater importance on spending trillions, yes, trillions of dollars on the various weapons of war.  We live in a world where our children know that 9/11 is a moment in time that changed the world.  We live in a world where terrorists put beheadings on YouTube and Twitter.

We have been through a war in Iraq (weapons of mass destruction) and Afghanistan, bombings in Madrid, London, Benghazi, Syria and  and now we are dealing with ISIS.   Why is it that this terror continues? I don’t know the answer to that question, I’m not sure anyone does.

“There is so much to keep track of and it doesn’t effect me (directly)”… so many say, “It doesn’t affect my day-to-day life so I don’t really pay attention.” I shake my head in disbelief…  I ask you please…

#NeverForget

You have to pay attention if only to try to explain it to your kids. 

I believe, you have to find a way to try to explain and help them understand: being Muslim does not mean that you are a terrorist. It is a religion not a terrorist movement.  Being a refugee means there was something so traumatic happening in another country that they had to flee. Those are real people living through conflict.  They are not actors or avatars or caricatures. They are real people.

Today, I reflect on how much our world has changed because of  the terrorist events of 9/11. For me, it is a time to be grateful for the blessings that I have in my life, to ask for guidance as to how I can help my children understand this and to pray for those that deal with this type of conflict e.v.e.r.y.  s.i.n.g.l.e.  d.a.y.

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