Today has been a hard day for a lot of people, I have no doubt. I was about as disconnected, as far-removed from the events of ten years ago as an American kid could have been, and I was still profoundly affected, perhaps as much as by any personal tragedy I've ever undergone in my life. I didn't lose anyone in the attacks, no one I knew was affected by the recovery efforts. But even now, it still hurts, maybe even more now than when the pain was fresh. So many lost, taken in one of the most unfair, cowardly attacks in human history.
I want to think we've come a long way since then, as a people, a nation. Certainly our knowledge of foreign affairs and world events have been magnified extensively. We still call ourselves the Greatest Nation, but I think we've learned to show a little more compassion for those not fortunate enough to be counted among us, and even count them ourselves in our own hearts. Particularly in the last few months, with events such as the Arab Spring and the toppling of numerous middle eastern dictatorships, the lesson has been brought home more than ever that freedom, rights, and human dignity are not merely American ideals, but are shared and longed for by every man and woman to draw breath, whether they suffer under oppression or not.
I have more to say, I think, but not today. Perhaps not ever, here. I'll let others with better talents for wordcraft than I say what I cannot. Today should be a day for introspection and mourning, and perhaps, dare I say it, celebration for the memory of the lives that were lost, and the lives they touched in their time among us.
My condolences, to all of us.
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