I was not alive when the 9/11 terrorist attacks happened. I didn’t witness the stunned reactions of the country after realizing what had just happened, and I didn’t experience the unity Americans felt on September 12. One might expect some people my age to not have a strong emotional tie to this date, and yet I know that just isn’t true.
On September 11 this year, I signed up for a community service project in Elk Ridge. It wasn’t anything fancy; just a few people with shovels and gloves coming together to make a public park look a little nicer. But while I was working, I started to notice how many kids and young people were there – people who couldn’t possibly have been alive in 2001. Each one of them worked diligently in remembrance of a day they didn’t even experience.
Why did they show up? I think that the answer lies in stories. Every year without fail, our teachers take a break to tell their own personal story of where they were when they heard the terrible news. Every year, our parents and other adult relatives tell us their stories and experiences, how they felt and how it affected their lives. Every year, our community comes together to remember and tell our stories.
And what stories you all have to tell.
As a child, I heard many stories of bravery and heroism of the people who worked so hard to save those in danger. As I grew, I heard more and more about the solidarity that was felt by a united country—everyone struggling with a form of that same kind of bewilderment and pain. I’ve been told that everyone wore flag pins to show their patriotism, that there were flags flying from most of the cars. I heard that stores and restaurants sent their employees home to allow them to be with those they loved, to focus on what they really cared about most: Our connection with each other. People learned to be resilient and kinder, to not let this turn them bitter, and instead grow to be better as individuals and all together.
These are the ideals you present to the rising generation every time September 11 comes around: bravery, unity and resilience. It has become not only a day of remembrance, but a call to action to be a better person than you were yesterday and to do something good that makes you glad to be a part of a community like ours.
This day has even been made a National Day of Service, but what impresses me most about that is the fact that it was only declared as such in 2009, eight years after the event happened. Perhaps this was done in response to people already doing service, unasked for and without praise, for the sole purpose of doing good.
And so, every year as 9/11 rolls around, I hope all those who were alive that fateful September day remember what they personally experienced, and tell those stories to the younger generation. They will remember these stories, and together we can then do something that would make all those who died that day proud.
Submitted by Allison Daems
