Seven years later…We move on.
For those who have forgotten, it has been 7 years since the attack on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. Since the attack on America. I remember, every year since then, during school, there would always be a moment of silence for those who lost their lives that fateful day. The media would always have some documentary or archived footage playing throughout the day from 9/11/2001.
What happened today?
School. The announcements come on. We stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. We sit. The announcements are made. We wait for that moment when they say, “and now, if you will, a moment of silence for those who lost their lives x years ago…,” but it never comes. “Have a great day, Gateway.” That’s it. Some students don’t notice. Some students make their, “Gee, that was strange,” look. Me? I was maybe the only one who realized that this could very well be the year that we have finally moved on.
School ends. I go home, and immediately turn on the television. I change to MSNBC, expecting some kind of footage from that day playing, and some 40-50 somethings discussing the impact. What do I see? Oil price gouging. Normal news. This goes on for a while, then it is mentioned that Obama and McCain would be at Ground Zero today to visit those families who were affected that day. Strictly political. Then, the news carries on.
Is this whole “moving on” thing…a good thing? Sure it is. “Moving on”. Putting it in the past, and looking toward the future.
But, by moving on, do we sacrifice something greater? Do we start to forget? They told us to “Never Forget” though. I saw the pins and the buttons and the bumper stickers. I also saw them disappear, slowly.
“Never Forget”? “Moving on”? What will we do? You surely can’t move on without forgetting…and if you never forget, you can never move on. Those two phrases don’t work together. So which will America choose?
Judging by experience, we got our answer today, during those announcements, talking with friends, watching the news.
I got an idea. From now on, let’s just choose to remember during the years with the nice, round numbers. 10th anniversaries…15h….and so on. It’s worked for us in the past.
