Ten years ago I sat down on an ugly old orange counch in the Audio Visual Department of Glastonbury High School and watched as two of this country’s most iconic buildings were destroyed, killing a lot of innocent people, and changing how the world perceives not only the people living, but what acts people are willing to take, for something as simple as faith.

I took a moment to go back through my old blog, journal, and website data for previous posts on 9/11 after 9/11/01 and was surprised to find that very little, if nothing, has been written by me since that day. As a fairly ordinary American who wasn’t connected really at all to anyone or anything in New York City on that day, it’s not surprising that I don’t have much to say about it. I have a heap of other posts about politics, mostly the politics surrounding the aftermath of 9/11, The Patriot Act, and many things that changed after that day. In ten years we’ve fought two wars, still ongoing, we’ve been to the bottom and back economically, and we continue to struggle between the balance of social change, and wanting to leave things the way they were. You often listen to people talk about how life was before 9/11, how things were simpler or kinder.

For me, 9/11 is a collection of still images and sounds in my head. From when we first turned on the TV, convinced it was a small plane off course, to the full realization that it was a terrorist attack as we watched the second plane hit the south tower, to Glen’s deadpan stare muttering “…oh shit…” when the south tower fell. The rest of that day was a complete blur. I remember our principal’s voice over the PA talking about the attacks, the somber faces of most of the students throughout the day. That night I sat in my room with two sets of VHS tapes of anime a friend let me borrow days before. Sorcerer Hunters, a funny-turn-serious series, or Evangelion, a robot series that was enigmatic, dark, sullen. I chose the former thinking, after this day, even though I wasn’t connected to it in any way, that I just wanted to laugh.

I was actually slightly connected I suppose, during the moments of those several hours that morning our department head, Don, was trying to get ahold of two of ours, who had graduated the year before and started college in NYC, and lived near Ground Zero. Communications were jammed so badly the only communication we could get was AIM. The perspective a lot of today’s kids lack is that in only ten short years ago, computers and the internet were still very early, cell phones were only in the hands of a small number of people, and there was no social networking that connected people together. They were unharmed of course, but I shudder sometimes to think of how I might’ve felt if I knew someone close that was down there at the time. I’m not even sure someone like myself could work in such tall buildings, just out of fear of the small chance of a strike.

Over the next ten years I have graduated, loved and lost, loved again, and lived life, and every September 11th that comes and goes I feel it is just another day. Those people tragically lost their lives, and what is more tragic is the people that took them continue to take innocent lives abroad under their misguided ideals. Possibly even more tragic is that some of these “freedom fighters” probably have reasons for fighting, reasons to make their message heard, but chose to do so in a way that helps no one. You often come across folks who feel that every year that slips by, we forget what happened that day and that those folks died in vain, like our World War veterans, or Vietnam. Even worse are “conspiracy theorists” who try to implicate the government as being the ones who planned and executed the attack, as a means to push the country into accepting a declaration of war on The Middle East. It’s truly disgusting to believe, in either way, that human beings are capable of acts against each other, that we cannot look past our own selfish desires to want to be happy for each other and their lives.

So ten years later, I still continue to live this day like the last and the next. Remember those who died, remember those who gave their lives to save and protect. Remember those who served to fight for what we stand for. Take away whatever it is you wish from this day, or don’t, this country has given you the freedom to do, think, and say anything you want. But if you have any human compassion, just give the folks who remember the pain and suffering more than you, this day. It’s theirs to keep. Forever. Who am I to argue?

PS: After watching the footage captured by personal cameras on that day on History earlier this evening, it presents that tragedy in an entirely new level, one that news footage and other videos didn’t capture that day. From the dorm girls screaming as the second plane hit, to the people on the streets engulfed by the clouds of smoke, this was a time before cell phone cameras, social networking, and instantaneous uploading to the internet. Imagine if this happened here and now, what kind of impact it would have on the folks living in that city? The news would spread in seconds, people on the other side of the world would know within minutes, and if it is anything like we’ve seen in similar cases over the past decade, response would be quicker. In the ten years since 9-11, we have expanded our technological and social capacity to hear and see more around us, to spot potential threats sooner, and to respond to events faster. Of course, the terrorists can also use this as a weapon too, and have, but a terrorists primary means of control is fear, and fear was very real that day, very sudden, and very much alive.