“Never forget.”
It is the mantra of this day we call Patriot Day, when we think back on the days surrounding September 11, 2001.
Can I confess something to you? It has always rubbed me wrong.
At first, I was cynical: Never forget? Please. We as a people are notoriously forgetful. Will we keep this tragedy before us daily? “Always” and “never” are words we should seldom use.
Lately, my reasoning for disliking these words has changed. When I think of someone saying the words “never forget,” I hear an undertone of bitterness. A hardening of the heart. Something like “I will never forget what you did.”
It’s a subtle difference but I wonder what would happen if we changed the words from “never forget” to “always remember.”
Read the entire post at Putting on the New, where I write on the 12th of each month.
I guess for those of us who had loved ones there on ground zero that day, it’s something we relive year after year even if we don’t want to. For my brother in law I think he relives it much more often, perhaps daily. I’m not sure. He won’t talk about what he saw that day. Even 16 years later. I watch the horror of that day each year on purpose for that very reason….so I’ll never forget.
And I don’t mean to diminish that at all. Thank you for sharing your experience.