Twenty years.
It is almost unfathomable that 20 years has passed since that beautiful September day that changed the world as we knew it. Anyone old enough to remember that day have fingerprint-unique experiences sewn together with threads of similarity — the television spitting out images of fire, horror, smoke, collapse and dust. Collectively watching as the ash made wide-eyed strangers all one color, wandering through the streets of New York with eyes of lost children. The first responders rushing towards what the others ran from and then another hit, and another, and it all came crumbling down.
We didn’t know what it was, who it was, when it would end. They hit the Pentagon. A plane went down in Shanksville. “What is next?” “Where is next?” “Where is my family?” “Where do I go?” “What do I do?” “We need to run!” “We need to fight!” But, who? There was nowhere that seemed safe, there was nowhere to run. We were frozen and helpless. By the next morning, the sun shined differently on all of us. Tears pushed back into anger. Patriotism became immediately visceral. Villains emerged, heroes rose and for a brief moment in time, ever so brief, we were one — riding through the streets with American flags waving, hugging strangers, donating to charities, looking at neighbors under that new sunlight like they were in no way different … they were Americans … and we loved them. Unity.
And … Todd Beamer gave us the soundtrack to how we all collectively felt … “Are you ready guys? Let’s roll!”
Twenty years.
My God how the last 20 years has changed us. September 11th gave birth to The Patriot Act, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that ended as poorly as they began. My mother would always tell me, “what starts in sin, ends in sin.” How right she was. The new law unleashed the spying on our own citizens, while trials of the attackers sat on permanent pause. They scan and pat down grandparents to this day while our own government opens our Southern border to the unvetted. The same police that ran into a building on fire to die for us, we allowed them to be vilified and spit on. We sent men and women to die for this country for decades to force them to leave breaking their “No Man Left Behind” honor at the gates. And, our own President stood up just days before the anniversary of the moment in time we came together and ripped us further to shreds.
“We have been patient. Our patience is wearing thin”. Joe Biden’s words to the people he is supposed to be leading.
It curdled my spine and sent a cool rush of anger through my body. How dare you? Simply, how dare you. You don’t speak to me or ANY of us that way. You work for US. US! I know it is a fact you all have forgotten. But, believe me … we haven’t. Never forget. We will never forget. Even when you have.
Divide and conquer, right? Black, white, vaccinated, unvaccinated, Republican, Democrat, masker, non-masker, Asian-American, Latina, Conservative, Liberal, Gay, Straight … chopped into pieces, put into piles of rubble like the Trade Center. And, instead of ash, we wonder like zombies around in a half-covered face with the same eyes of lost children as we had on September 11th, 2001. You know what? MY patience is wearing thinner.
Twenty years.
Perhaps we remember what we swore we would never forget. Perhaps we remember what it felt like to feel patriotism, acceptance, compassion and fury all at once again. And, perhaps we let the soundtrack of who we are play one more time … even if it’s too late … even if that field is rocketing towards us and the chances are slim … and, all reason tells you there is no way out … maybe we remember what Flight 93 taught us 20 years ago … if we go down … let’s go down swinging …
“Are you ready, guys? Let’s roll.”
Pretty Political 