So many of us experienced the anger, grief about the attacks on 9/11 for a long time. I have no relatives or friends who were directly taken by the terrorist attacks. But today, with the media reminding me wherever I go THIS IS THE DAY -- 10 YEARS, I find myself reliving some of the reactions I had 10 years ago. I'm also annoyed, because the news started 'ramping up' for this horrific anniversary about a week ago. I noted how the pressure for 9/11 was built up over the days. When the outlets were doing this, I was confident I would resist the emotionality of the day, faced with all the footage and audio they'd be broadcasting. But I can't see the pictures and watch the video clips without being moved, and I think about what happened that day, and all the people who died. I'd have to have a heart of stone to not feel the pain.
The entire day of 9/11, my wife and I were wrapped in a cushion of unreality. We watched the TV, helplessly. I heard people say, over and over again, "It is like a bad dream -- but made real." Then two days after 9/11, when I was driving to work, the radio station I was tuned into said something about the attacks on the United States of America, and played the National Anthem.
I grew up believing, though we can disagree on many things, every decent American is a patriot, at the core. Being 'for your country' was like having common sense. But when I heard the National Anthem two days after 9/11, I cried half way through. I've never cried to the National Anthem before, or since.
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