Remembering 9-11

On Monday, September 11, 2006, cnn.com will air CNN's coverage of the events of 9-11 in real time from 8:30 to midnight Central time.

I'm sure you remember where you were that day. The library was hosting a breakfast for United Way's Day of Caring and as the excellent cooks on our staff were busy with last minute preparations we began to hear vague reports of a plane crashing into the World Trade Center. By the time the breakfast was under way, someone had brought a TV with rabbit ears to the interlibrary loan area and we watched in shock as it became steadily more apparent that this was not a tragic accident but a terrorist plot of previously unthinkable scale.

Most of the rest of that day is a blur. The shock just didn't seem to wear off. It seemed unlikely that there would be any kind of attack locally, but a general fear pervaded everything, which was of course one purpose of the attacks. I felt like I needed to DO something, but couldn't imagine what.

For months afterward, everything was colored by that event. Assemblies and memorials were held, flags were displayed everywhere, and the general feeling was that Americans were more unified than we had been for decades. We thought that things would never be the same again, and we were right, but at the same time it's tempting to not think about it any more. The memories are painful and it's so much easier to concentrate only on the current conflicts (military and political) that have stemmed from the September 11th attacks, but we need to remember it and think about it. We have to dare to reopen those wounds lest we begin to deny they exist.

Just typing this, I'm already beginning to feel that punched in the stomach sensation again, but I need that. I need to tell my children about it when they're old enough to understand and hope they don't shrug it off the way I always did when someone told me where they were when Kennedy was assassinated. I need to remind someone, and hopefully I just did.