WARNING: I’m on my soapbox

I found this picture in the news section of Yahoo. I had to keep it and post it here, as it seemed to me to be the iconic memorial to the victims and losses we’ve all had since 9/11.

Sadness, shock, grief, all of these emotions still linger, even after five years, but there’s a resilience too. As a nation, we are willing to continue, to do what we need to do, to keep working, to keep living – even in the teeth of such trauma.

I know I sound pompous, and New York might as well be Africa or England for all I know about the place, or the chance that I might actually go there, but on this, the fifth anniversary of 9/11, there is a sense of determined nationalism that for a single day unites us all. Tomorrow we’ll go back to being Democrats and Republicans, anti- war, anti-Bush, pro-war, pro-Bush and we’ll cuss each other out for being too stupid to be on the “right” side.

But not today.

Today is a day of tragedy. Today is a day of loss. Today is a day of pride and self-respect.

Never forget.