9/11 – what we’ve learned from what you’ve submitted this past week

BLOG September 12, 2011 14:58

by PenTales Pundit Aswini Sivaraman

What more could be said about one of the single most important events of the new millennium? On the 10th anniversary of one of the most tragic catastrophes the world has ever witnessed, it seems that our lives are abuzz with the echoes of that fateful day. You probably heard the helicopters hover over the air, guarding us. You probably have read only about the 9/11 in the news. It’s trending on twitter. And it is going to haunt us.

We kick-started our week with Dee’s story on how the 9/11 impacted everyone despite one’s positioning. The story further provokes you to think of those for whom the 9/11 is only a tale; do those young minds who were born in the decade after it still be privy to the terrors the world faces?

A similar experience is shared by J M Hannah from Sydney, to whom the day was as physically and emotionally draining as the loss of her own family. As she rightly says, the day does matter. And it always will. The tragedy was global, as further reiterated by the tale of an anonymous contributor. And one doesn’t have to be intimately involved with the day to sense the magnitude of the loss and disaster the day entailed.

And if you were one of those who were intimately involved, there are others out there who share your feelings. Jo-Ann’s account of a day where things did happen in three’s  –  a husband caught in one of the towers, a son’s birthday and another’s insistence on finding his father, family at the other ill-fated sites – makes you yearn for happy endings, which she does get. But as she observes correctly, the healing associated with may be stained. Yet, it is important to help the victims obtain the peace we want them to have.

And that applies especially to all those who did lose a precious someone on the day. Jody, in his tale of loss of a dear friend, Jif, reminds us rightly that in this process of healing, we should abandon the hate that was split over by the incident. It is relevant to honor those who have left a mark in our hearts in their passing. And it is important to honor those who have offered assistance in every minute way; the firemen, police, and other officials and volunteers who have strived to clear the physical and emotional debris of the day, as Robert’s print reminds us.
And we thought that was nothing else to be said about it. Our week on 9/11 at PenTales has been an emotional ride, considering the sensitivity and the importance of the theme. We have had many stories pouring in, each significant in what it offered. And we are glad we have provided a ear to listen to each of these experiences

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