Do you know what today is? I hope you do, because I really don't want to take the time to explain it.
Photographer: Thomas E. Franklin
Today is the 11th anniversary of 9/11. Whoa. 11 years? 11 YEARS? My parents always say "It seems like just yesterday when it happened..." It really does. Think of how much our nation has changed in these 11 years. I do hope it's been for the better, because I really don't want something like that to happen again. Our nation has evolved. We have strict airport security systems, which everyone groans and moans about, but they keep our America safe. And that's what the most important thing is; knowing that we are safe.
Scratch that. The most important thing about 9/11 is the memory of it. Remembrance. I guess I shouldn't really even be talking about this, because I don't remember it all-- I was a mere age of four. And I'm kinda sad that I don't remember it, in a weird way. People younger than I am remember it. My sister does. My parents obviously do. But I don't. And I want to.
September 11th, 2001 brought America together. There was no fighting over politics that day, there was no gossip going around school about who got arrested last weekend. And that's because everyone was afraid for our country. We came together to support the innocent civilians who died. We didn't care if one side of our head was brushed, and the other a complete rats' nest. We cared about America.
That's why remembering it is so important. That's why I want to remember it so badly. Everyone has personal stories about it, and everyone knows about it. Everyone. Even the kids who were born after 2001 know about it. Well, at least I really hope that they do.
It is a day in our country that will never be forgotten. These terrorists exposed a vulnerable side of America. And we didn't like that. We hated that, actually.
We don't remember 9/11 just so we "don't make that mistake again". Sure, we've learned from that experience, and now, it really, hopefully won't happen again. No, we remember it because it's a day where every single American citizen dropped what they were doing, and came together, no matter where they came from.
One of the most touching events I've experienced in my life was the day I was at the Newseum in DC with my 8th grade class. My friends and I decided to go into this room all about 9/11. There was a video. That video. I had never seen that footage of the plane before. Writing this makes me so sad to even think about it again. I had never seen the people, caked with dust and blood, literally running for dear life. I had never head the wails before. Even though those are horrific sights and sounds, it's something that I don't want to forget. I won't forget.
That video touched my heart. I couldn't stop crying for a good while after the video was over. None of us could. It really hit home what happened during this day. I can't get over the fact that innocent people had to die. Why? Why? I just don't get it.
Remembering today helps us think about what courage those people had in the plane headed for the White House. I don't want to go into what they did, because it makes me too upset. But they knew they were going to die. They still did what they did to save the rest of us. That can't be forgotten. It just can't.
It makes me happy to see that #NeverForget was being used all over Twitter. We can't forget. We won't be doing all those people who died justice. We have to remember. For them. For us.
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