Never Forget

 

Football will be on later. 

I'll listen to the Steelers play the Bengals though I have low expectations for the Black and Gold. 

I still shudder to think that the Bengals are the defending AFC Champions.

But we all know what today is. We'll be reminded of it in myriad ways.

It's September 11.

They say "Never Forget." I capitalized it because it's become a slogan; a hashtag.

#NeverForget

I don't forget. I haven't forgotten. 

September 11, 2001, is etched in my brain.

Beautiful day. Crystal clear skies. Warm. I needed to prep for football before going to an interview at an agency for a temp-to-perm job in White Plains.

A job that I'd do from home because the office was in lower Manhattan.

I was a mere five months away from becoming a father.

I remember where I was when I heard about the first plane and what I was listening to. 

I remember the same about the second plane.

I remember the whirlwind of activity at WGCH that morning. 

I remember canceling the appointment with the agency.

I remember being asked to go to the Greenwich train station to interview people. I also remember eventually declining that and opting to leave.

I remember the empty roads.

How can anyone ever forget?

And, yet, I'm sure plenty do.

Certainly, plenty have forgotten because we're nowhere near as united as we were by lunchtime that day.

But I haven't. 

I took inventory of my family and friends. I was blessed that all were fine.

My losses were minimal.

Yet this day still hurts. No matter what I watch -- or if I don't watch anything -- the hurt still feels fresh and just unreal.

I mean, did that really happen?

It did and, for a short time, it bonded us.

Shanksville, PA

So, once again we relive the horror. The memorial events took place and the names were read. Bells rang out.

By the afternoon, as I write, we wipe our eyes, brush ourselves off, and steady ourselves for the rest of our Sunday.

Football is coming up.

We move along, hoping that we never forget.