9/11 -- Ten Years Later

Photo by Newsday

Sadness...Awe...Gratitude...Grief.  All woven together, this is 9/11, ten years later.

Sadness and grief for the lives lost that awful day but gratitude and awe for the extraordinary memorial now in place at Ground Zero and the heroic efforts of fellow Americans who made it possible for survivors to talk about how they miraculously escaped the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Human strengths and human frailties live side by side today at Ground Zero in New York City, the Washington, DC Pentagon building and the field where Flight 93 crashed in Shanksville, PA.  Across the United States, Americans are commemorating the thousands of lives lost and mentally reliving the tragic terrorist events that took place ten years ago.  The sounds, the sights, the smells, the thoughts of that horrific day come rushing back as we recall loved ones lost and loved ones who survived the destruction but still deal with the physical and psychological effects of the those terrorist attacks.

The anniversary of losing a loved one is always a painful  time  of "remember whens" and "what ifs," but there can also come a point in your personal grief journey when you decide that the anniversary is more than the loss of that person; that the anniversary can be spent as a day to celebrate the beauty of that person's life and the positive impact they had on you.