Through the mirror of my mind

Today is a day that will live in infamy in our memories.  The 11^th day of the month of September will always echo of 2001 for those of us alive to witness it.  Always.

I did wonder as I watched my morning news and they highlighted stories about germs on  makeup kept in your purse or a dog that got stuck behind a rock where the acknowledgment of that day was on the headline radar.  Then there was a brief blurb about the president visiting sites around the country and listening to names of the fallen. 

Then I log onto Facebook and see all the status updates acknowledging what happened.  It is something to see that we remember.  I confess I always feel slightly on the outside of these memories because I was half a world away when it happened and my perspective is entirely different.  But it is still a collective sigh of sadness to pay tribute to the fallen souls.

It was awful and terrifying.  Because it came out of nowhere.  There was nothing the victims did to deserve this horror.  This wretched bloodshed and heartless end of lives is what haunts us.  The lives left to go on without those who died.  The children without parents.  The parents without children.  The spouses without partners.  People left to survive and remember what was lost.  2,974 people died that day.  Another 24 went missing.

Maybe this is tacky to consider.  But I couldn’t help wondering this as everyone chimed in their tributes this morning.  Since March 2003, there have been 100,971 violent civilian deaths in Iraq.  And it still keeps happening.  There have been 4,261 American military deaths in Iraq.  25,921 soldiers have been wounded.  Who knows how many more have been wounded internally?  And that doesn’t include Afghanistan.

See, September 11 to me isn’t just a tragic end to American lives.  It was the start of something much larger and infinitely more tragic.  And yet, in eight years, we have let those casualties fade even farther from the headlines.  They announce a bombing or an attack in Iraq and it just all blends together.  Who cares?  Michael Jackson or Tom Brady is the pressing news of the day. 

I’m not saying it isn’t worth it to stop and pause and reflect today.  It is always important to do that.  I try to do that on days that my generation has no clue about.  But… what is the point of reflecting if we aren’t going to learn from it?  If we allow other lives to slip away from this planet without concern or notice?

I grieve today for everyone that died on September 11^th.  I grieve for the innocence lost that September day.  I grieve for the families that survived.  I grieve for the witnesses that are haunted by the images.  I grieve for the soldiers who took up arms to make that wrong right.  I grieve for the children and plain ordinary citizens caught in the crossfire of our military battle.  I grieve for the soldiers who come home with broken bodies and souls.  I grieve for their families who have to endure.  I grieve for us all to whom this day will never be the same.