never forget

Eight years is a long time. Some people thought that 3 years or 4 years was enough time. Time to forget and move on. Well, moving on to some degree is one thing, but forgetting is another. I am thankful that, to the best of my knowledge, no one I personally knew lost anyone on September 11, 2001, but I am still never going to forget that morning, hearing the news reports and not being able to believe that they were true, and watching the towers crumble. And then in the aftermath, hearing the stories that came out of that awful day, both heartwarming and tragic. For many of us, there are no constant reminders of that day eight years ago, but for a lot of people, they lost loved ones - family and friends, whether in the towers or in the planes or the Pentagon or elsewhere, whether civilians or firemen or other rescue workers. And then there are those still suffering today from the effects of having been the rescue workers. It's not over for them - it will never be over for them.

For those who don't regard September 11 as anything other than a regular day, that's fine too. Everyone needs to do what works for them.

For me, every year, I do still remember. I'm thankful and I'm sorrowful.

And maybe this is a really weird seque/connection, but when the Super Bowl was played several months later, there was a lot of talk about what the normal high-profile commercials would be like, still so close to that tragic day. Anheuser Busch always had the best Super Bowl commercials - funny and touching. I don't care about their beer, I just liked their commercials. And in early 2002, I thought that of all the commercials that paid tribute to the events of September 2001, they did the best. The commercial has me in tears now as it did then.

We will never forget.