Remembering 9-11

It is not easy to experience the day, September 11, and not think back to six years ago. Do you remember where you were or what you were doing relatively early that morning when you heard about the first crash, the plane hitting one of the twin towers? How about when another plane his the second tower? When the Pentagon was hit? When the plane was taken down by the passengers in Pennsylvania?

I remember picking my son up from daycare that afternoon. He was way too young to understand anything about the events. I didn’t even try to explain it or talk to him about it. I just made sure to give him lots of hugs and kisses that day.

Now, six years later, my son was asking questions. Now, six years later, I have tried to explain some of the events of that day to him, on his level.

I am guessing that every American citizen who lived through the tragedy of that day thinks back to it today. Certainly those people who lost a loved one, who were in the vicinity of any of the crashes must think about it. I am sre that many people from many different cultures think about it, and probably most recall it as the solemn day it was as opposed to those few sick individuals who view it as a joyous event.

As a Jewish American, this tragedy hurts even more, in the sense that Al Quaida claimed that this was in part an attack because of the United State’s relationship with Israel and their support of Judaism. While the U.S. has its faults, we tend to being accepting of everyone and enjoy the fact that so many different cultures come together and live together, peaceful and actually enjoy watching and learning about each other’s cultures. That is a lesson that Al Quaida really needs to learn. I doubt they will, but I hope so.

One side note: I think it is unfortunate that there are still some people who do not draw a distinction between the Moslem world, most of whom are respectful individual and enjoy experiencing their customs, laws and traditions, (as well as watching others enjoy different customs) and the extremist like Al Quaida who feel violence and destruction is the only way to get a message across. We all need to be tolerant of one another!