#MicroblogMondays 159: Acknowledging the Date
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There are some dates you want to remember and mark because they bring you personal happiness: your birthday, anniversary, special accomplishments. There are other dates that you wish you could forget but you can’t because they were life changing events: death dates and other losses.
There are dates that you swear you’ll never stop marking that sometimes slip away with time. Our miscarriages were like that. I couldn’t tell you the dates anymore except for one, and that’s only because it occurred the day before a Jewish holiday, which makes it somewhat easier to keep in mind, though only the Hebrew date and not the American one. The others pass on the calendar without acknowledgment even though I thought I would never forget those dates.
But there is something about September 11th that pokes my back and says, “Remember me.” It doesn’t matter that it isn’t a neat milestone like 10 years or 15 years or 20 years after the fact. Even at the oddball 16-year mark, it demands that you notice the date on the calendar.
Are you doing anything to mark the day?
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25 comments
Strange that there are some dates you can never forget and some you can never remember but the feelings remain just as fresh. It had completely slipped my mind that it’s 11th sep today.
It almost slipped my mind as well, I only noticed because we were having a meeting at work and somebody asked what date it was. And then we realized, it’s 9/11.
This is also the date of my FET for my daughter so we celebrate today (Transfer Day). The first time we did it, I was so excited because we had our little newborn finally, but it also felt weird to celebrate something happy. She has karate tonight so we began our celebration this weekend with Thai food from her favorite place (it’s always Thai or Middle Eastern) and a movie. I do always remember this date though, for what it was 16 years ago and I wake with a sense of heaviness.
When I woke up this morning, I immediately began thinking about it.
It doesn’t seem that long ago, and yet it does. I can still remember sitting in my high school History class and hearing the news. I don’t think I will ever forget it: it was my first and closest experience with such a tragedy.
I feel for all the families aching today, and every day.
How can I forget today . I still remember the day last year when I visited the site. The site still haunts you with those debris .
I’m so glad you made 9/11 the topic of your post! Because much of the U.S. & its territories are so overwhelmed with these hurricanes, even I had to keep reminding myself of the date. I lived 7 miles from the WTC and have very specific memories. I woke up in the middle of the night in a total panic every night for 6 mos after it. I moved in 2007 & I feel a little guilty every year that I don’t do enough to keep the memories alive because it’s very different not being in NYC on this day. (I’m sure people near the plane crash in PA & the Pentagon feel the same.) People often just go on with their day and never even mention 9/11. When I worked for the County, we had a group of us from the NYC/NJ area and we all would share stories on this day. Thanks!!
Truthfully, this one snuck up on me (maybe because it is an odd year), but I do mark this date as so much in our world changed. Is still changing because of it.
Today will be marked for me with a walk and moment of silence. But also with finding ways of being more kind. There’s too much fear in the world, so every little bit helps.
I am watching the ceremonies at the Pentagon as I type this. I don’t think there’s a chance that anyone who lived through that day will ever forget it, whether or not we actually do anything special to mark it. The first few years afterward, they would actually observe a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. in the office tower where I worked in downtown Toronto (I think most of the big towers downtown did… such a similar setting, many companies with offices in NYC, it hit very close to home for many of us). After a few years, they stopped doing it, but it’s not something you forget. (It’s also my sister’s birthday today!)
Some dates you really cannot forget…they mark your heart, for good or bad…
When we were discussing the C-section date, today was the original one that our surrogate wanted because it falls on a Monday. But after discussing it, we vetoed it because of September 11. I guess if the twins decide to come today, we have no choice. But we still don’t want to intentionally make this their birthdate.
I agree – there’s something about this date that demands my attention. While I’ve never done anything formal (other than a couple of blog post “moment of silence” type things), it hangs in the periphery of my mind whenever the date comes up.
This date pokes at me exactly as you describe. I was emailing someone to set up an appointment and when I wrote 9/11 down I felt the need to mention that it felt weird to write it even after all these years. I don’t know anyone personally and I was 2,000 miles away when it happened. Still, every year, it gives me pause.
I know what you mean. Some one asked me the date at work. I said it and then said, Oh! it’s 9/11 today.
Yes, and it’s so mired in emotion. We got married on 9/16/01 so it went from being 5 days before our wedding to…well, 9/11. And then all the issues that went with trying to have a wedding, even a small one, when suddenly people couldn’t travel. So yes, it’s definitely a date I think about every year.
My husband lost his job today. Ugh. I guess in addition to the awful events of 9/11 16 years ago, we will have another bad reminder of the date. Like you said though, we will probably not remember the date he lost his job years down the road unless it wasn’t on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Not doing anything to mark 9/11, but definitely remember. The only time I ever did anything in particular was immediately after 9/11: I went to an interfaith prayer service. It was actually very uncomfortable, not reassuring at all. And the a year later, on the first anniversary, I cried alone. Mainly for the end of my own naïveté. But since then then I simply remember. September 11 is also my brothers birthday, poor guy.
I usually have a discussion with my students re: 9/11. Most of them were babies when it happened, but it’s important to have the discussion about what creates such acts of terror, preserve the memory of those who lost their lives, and celebrate those brave souls who responded. But classes were canceled today because of Irma, but we talked about it a bit last week. I can’t remember why it came up.
This is the first 9/11 since The 9/11 that has seemed somewhat manageable. I don’t know if that’s because of the amount of time that has passed or because of what my own life has been like recently or what.
Time will tell.
I will say that it’s strange to talk about 9/11 to each year’s students. None of them have personal memory of it any more. Today’s students were 3 months old when it happened. Next year it will be before any were even born.
I am terrible at remembering my specific dates of personal loss, but 9/11 is always burned into my memory. It was weird that today in school we didn’t have a moment of silence…I actually planned around one at 8:46 and then possibly at 9:03, and there was just…nothing. We talked about it in English, and Social Studies, but it felt so removed because none of the kids were alive (my students are 12/13, so like Lori, it’s weird that it’s not a memory). It’s strange to see this go from raw wound to more of a historical event, but I think we’ll always talk about it, and it will always be one of those seminal events I’ll remember every little detail about for the rest of my life.
I didn’t do anything specifically, but the date is always there, I’m always aware of it as it is coming up.
The acts of the day are known by the date. They’re not called attacks on New York, or the bombing of Hiroshima, they’re called September 11. So it’s pretty hard to forget the date, even if we wanted to. I’ve felt melancholy all day, and I do wonder if it is due to this. I always think about it, wonder how the families of the victims are coping, and look at how the world has changed, and yet how much it has stayed the same too.
True. Some dates you can never forget. I remembered 9/11.
Over the time period, I have reached a conclusion that every day is special. Just because, I am alive and got the chance to live it! And if we can see this way…every day is a “Date” in a calendar! Sometimes its a date with fun and frolic and some times its a date with shades of grey and black!
So I mark every day as special!
– Anagha From Team MocktailMommies
http://mocktailmommies.blogspot.in/2017/09/triple-scoop-microfiction.html
A very good friend celebrates her birthday on September 11. Since I met her, got to know, and grow to love her, that is what September 11 conjures for me. Of course we won’t forget, but like all such events it will fade from those of us not directly impacted. I suspect.