Written by Dallea Caldwell
The sun rose this morning, prompt as usual. It’s hump-day, and you’ve resolved to drag yourself out of bed and muddle through it with varying degrees of gusto. A litany of deadlines, to-do’s, and distractions digs into your mind. All the while, a sobering fact floats above your consciousness, barely grazing your dim and befuddled awareness.
Today marks the 12th anniversary of one of the darkest days in American history, this National Day of Service and Remembrance.
And the call for remembrance is an earth-shattering whisper for all of us. Whether initially shaken by horrific news or utterly broken by personal loss that day, remembrance still threatens to undo the normalcy we’ve managed to hobble together in the years since. The senseless tragedy openly mocks the fragile sense we’ve managed to make of our everyday lives.
Except one thing: the day the Earth stood still has long passed and we, as a community, as a country, and as part of the human family…continued to move forward.
If you’ve been to New York City since the opening of the 9/11 Memorial, then you’ve noticed a few bittersweet features at the site.
The NY skyline remains marred by the horrors of that day. Yet the unfettered blaze of the sun fills the void where neither ghost nor shadow can lurk unbrightened. And with the names and memories of those lain low immortalized in bronze, the twin reflecting pools lay, deepening the space where the towers stood soaring.
Visitors watch the perpetual waterfalls cool and cleanse the pools’ depths and let the experience cool and cleanse their own.
And the 9/11 memorial is merely a symbol of human resilience and our power to redeem the darkest of moments. By serving, we create new memories, which further show proof of the resilience which is ours and bring light in place of darkness.
TalkLocal shares in your remembrance of 9/11 and calls on everyone to be the light that endures despite it…in any way they can.
