Remembering 9/11

What does it mean to remember 9/11?

Every year, I watch over and over again what happened on that awful day, feeling sorrow at the loss of thousands of lives at the hands of evil people. I am outraged that evil people still exist in the world today. But I always become frustrated that maybe I don't do enough, that maybe what I do and say is trite and can not possibly even begin to remember that day the way it really deserves to be remembered. And so this year I wondered, what should I as an average United States citizen do to remember this day in the way it should be remembered? What would those who died want us to do?

This year, I watched a documentary that helped me answer at least a part of those questions. As I watched the footage and listened to the stories of individuals who both lived and died that day, I began to notice a common theme throughout. At some point during the day they all did the same thing. What did they do?

They all called their families.

This wasn't an amazing revelation to me. It is what I would have done if I was there that day, but as I continued to think about what it meant, it became very poignant to me. We are distracted in the world by so many things: our jobs, finances, schooling, and recreational activities, that sometimes we forget what is truly important. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes an event of such catastrophic proportions to simplify our lives and put into perspective what really IS most important.

As I went in to check on my baby boy tonight and saw him sleeping serenly in his crib, I realized that the most important thing I can do to honor the memory of those who died that day, is to love and cherish my family every day, because I think that if they were here, that is what they would do ... and that, I hope, we will always remember.