9/11

9/11 Never Forget

As an American currently living abroad, as someone who is from Washington and moved to New York, as a member of a military family, I'm very aware of September 11th and of how people talk about it. Thankfully, not everyone is brazen and over-gesticulating about American pride. The day is a sad one, and we know that.  September 11th is a personal wound, a personal fear, and a personal experience that we all share, and it's one that makes us at once proud and humble as a country. Proud of our citizens and families and their response to the events of that day and their responsibility in the days that follow. Humble because we are vulnerable.

But it is also a day to reflect on what the day did to us as a nation and on that pain that allows us as people to empathize with those suffering from terrible violence all over the world. I don't mean it in a way that is meant to inspire mindlessly heroic action or arrogant war. I don't mean it in a way that makes our loss any less or more. But I do mean it in a way that hopefully inspires each and every one of us reading this (myself included) to remember 9/11 in a spirit of common humanity. No person and no people should ever suffer under acts of such violence, whether it be for their culture, their actions, their religion, or their unluckiness.

Remember 9/11. 

I remember it for myself, for my family, and for my friends. I remember it because of what that day did to us, what it forced on us, and what we did because of it. And most importantly, I remember what it feels like, and for that reason I pray in solidarity with all those who are terrorized by violence in every part of the world, not just the United States. May you never lose hope, and may you always remember with forgiveness and hope in your hearts. We remember together, and we will always be in it together.