Never Forget or Always Remember?

Never forget for most of us is an individual action so it truly only applies to people born prior to 1999. I include the 2 year old's born to the families of anyone that was lost that day because they will be taught to never forget. Never forgetting is also directly proportional to the effect it had on you personally. What exactly is it that we will never forget? Mostly, every emotion that was seared into our memories & hearts.

SHOCK and disbelief that something so horrible was happening. It's that slow motion break down that occurs when your mind says, "What is happening? An accident, a horrible accident, .... No, it seems more than that."This can't be happening, not here, not to us!"  "WHY is this happening?"  

The people around you start to react as well. Maybe you are in a location with people you need to keep calm. You go into control mode. Keep people calm, hysteria will only complicate what needs to happen. Information, you need more information, distraction, provide distraction with a promise of more information as it is available. But that only last a very short while, because the additional information strikes at the core of all that you know and took for granted about living in a free and protected nation.

FEAR sets in because you see or hear the events unfolding not just in New York, but in Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania. "Where else is this going to happen?" "Where are my children, parents, family, friends?" "Are they there, will it happen here? For maybe the first time in your life you feel uncertain of the security of the land you live in."Am I safe where I am, should I be someplace else?" You start calling everyone you know, your family first, within an hour the phone lines can not support the load.

ISOLATION in a crowd of people because the people you need & want to be with are your family and you know that's not possible in the immediate future. You immediately start to pray (actually you started an hour ago in whispers only God could hear, but hear he did).

HOW could this happen?  We live in the UNITED STATES of AMERICA. Land of the FREE, .... and very soon the phrase "Home of the Brave" is real, being played out before your eyes that seep tears for the tragedy of it all. Every word of what you have just read was also true for the almost 3,000 people who died that day and the millions that were there, physically, mentally and spiritually. It was true for the people in the planes as they came to the realization of what was occurring. It was true for the people in the buildings and people on the streets. It was true for the people in their homes, at thier work places, in schools, in stores, at the post office, in cars, buses, trains & airports. The uncertainty of continued life, liberty and pursuit of happiness was at the doorstep of this nation.

So what YOU will "Never forget" is one thing. What YOU remember is another thing. One catch phrase I saw was, "Never Forget means  Never Let it Happen Again"  There are countries in other parts of the world that have experienced war in their homeland for centuries, ongoing loss of life and destruction of homes, businesses & lives. Political Wars, Territorial wars,  Drug wars, Mafia wars, Religious wars, Civil wars, Family Wars.

The aftermath of what happened on September 11, 2001 showed America to be what it is at it's best; Patriotic, Unified, and Willing to Protect the very essence of what our founding fathers wrote about in The Declaration of Independence and our Constitution. 

Fourteen years later and our country is more divided than ever and its sad, very sad. I pray unity for our country, I pray for the families of those lives lost in the September 11th attack on America and I pray that every American REMEMBERS and prays with me. 

What is the purpose of history if not to learn by? How do you teach patriotism?  What has 9-11 taught us and why are we not dedicated to passing on to the next generation a better world than was handed to us?