Always remember...

They say that every generation has their "moment."  The defining time where you'll always remember where you were when...for my mom, that moment was when she heard that President Kennedy had been shot in Texas.  For me, that moment will always be Tuesday, September 11, 2001.  I feel that I would be remiss in both my role as a citizen and my role as a social studies teacher to not mention what today is the anniversary of.  I've sat in front of my computer for the past hour trying to figure out just what it was I was going to say and how to word what I'm thinking.

First off, I'm not going to push religion, nationalism, or reaction-ism of any sort.  Never have, never will.  That's just not the way that I function. I think it's important to be proud of your country or your religion everyday, not just on anniversaries of tragic events.  I will say that I know many people in my own life who were personally effected by the events of September 11 and for them my heart breaks a bit on this and every anniversary.  I have a co-worker whose husband and brother-in-law were first responders for the FDNY in 2001.  One has already been through one lung transplant and is awaiting another.  Everyday they live with those reminders of this tragedy.  I have all those directly effected by the events of 2001 on my mind and in my heart today.

That being said and this being a blog all about our love for Mr. Pattinson, I couldn't make this post without making a small comment on one of my favorite Rob movies, Remember Me.  There was a lot of backlash at the time of release, and still to some point today, about the ending of the movie.  Many have called it a "cheap" way to effect audiences, etc.  I just have to say that somewhere, someone has missed the point.  The goal was not to cheapen anything - and in fact for the last 3 days all of the Facebook posts friends have put up containing the statistics of 9/11/01 feel cheaper to me.  I know how many lost their lives, I know how many are still suffering.  Remember Me, to me, humanizes the whole experience of what the country was feeling - loss, confusion, hurt.  I remember watching this film for the first time and feeling as though I'd been kicked in the stomach when I realized what the twist at the end was all about.  I was entranced by the story of this family - a real family with real issues, living their day to day lives the best way they can.  They didn't see it coming and neither did I.  I feel like for so many that's how September 11 played out as well.  No one saw this coming, people were going about their daily lives as best they knew how only to feel that kick to the stomach when everything changed.  The people who lost their lives were real people.  They were not numbers, they had families and problems and things going on in their lives and that information is often forgotten or glossed over in favor of the "big picture" of statistics and numbers.  It seems insensitive and cold to boil everything down to numbers, but we do it often in times of tragedy.  I feel for the human side of September 11 and in that case also for the human portrayal in Remember Me.  I feel like this movie does what so many documentaries that focus on the numbers and statistics can't manage to do.  Remember the day, remember the lives lost, but don't forget to remember those living with the memories - the ones who lost so much that day, just as I'm thinking about my friend and her husband and brother in law who live everyday with those reminders.

Never forget.