Why 9.11 Means Something to All of Us.
9.11 means something to us.
9.11 should mean something to every American. Not just for its history, for its violence, for its shocking duration and aftermath, for the way it changed the entire world for everyone. The life of every American changed that day, whether you realize it or not. And we still live 9.11 every day.
9.11 means something to us.
So, when I hear someone whine or complain about all the tributes and memorials today, I want to shake them and say THIS. THIS is why 9.11 matters. And show them the THIS.
THIS means something to us. 9.11 means something to us.
It’s not over. 9.11 lingers not only because it was the most horrific foreign terrorist attack ever on American soil, but because for so many, 9.11 and its effects aren’t over.
Our First Responders, construction workers, medical workers, clergy, deli workers, service animals, shopkeepers, those near ‘Ground Zero’… and so many others are still dying from the effects of 9.11. Cancer acquired from 9.11 dust and debris takes the lives of hundreds every year.
More people have died from 9.11 cancer than died in the actual 9.11 attacks.
THIS is why 9.11 means something to us.
For me, personally… A bit of backstory. Sorry for ‘stopping the action’ in the middle of the chapter...
My mom was born in upstate New York and grew up near the City, in Queens and the Bronx. Many of these families have sons who are police officers, firefighters, or priests. Some are doctors or lawyers. But these are Legacy First Responder families.
My grandmother wanted Mom to marry a legacy firefighter or policeman. She constantly introduced my mom to her friends’ sons, the firemen, the policemen, the Legacy. Mom dated a few of them.
To digress a bit…I had a coworker, Julia, from an NYC Legacy family. All her family, mom, dad, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc. were Legacy fire, police, EMTs. Julia was her name, and every Sept. 9, she took off for a week and “went home—because everyone comes home for 9.11.” She lost 4 cousins, 3 uncles, an aunt, and 2 grandparents to the 9.11 attacks. She’s since lost even more to 9.11 cancer.
9.11 means something to them.
My family lost 2 young cousins, an uncle, and a sister-in-law as First Responders in 9.11. We lost my great-aunt, who worked on the 87th Floor of the South Tower. She had been a nurse's aid before she took the job there, and I know she died helping others who were hurt. She wouldn't have thought, even days away from retirement, of herself. She would have been helping those who needed it.
9.11 means something to us.
Julia and I were talking one day, and realized my mom had dated her uncle. Small world, ehh? Especially since we always think NYC is so big. When Julia asked, many of her cousins and aunts recalled my mom’s name or went to school with her.
I wish I could have asked my Mom about them. But by then… well, a story for another day.
But at age 16, my Mom came South during Summer break to help out her sister-in-law with her 4 kids under age 5, and met my Dad while on a grocery store run. They married right after my Mom finished high school.
My grandmother didn’t like my Dad. He wasn’t her idea of a son-in-law: he was Southern, he was ‘hick’ (country), his family wasn’t well off or Catholic, he was Southern. But my Dad was Legacy, too.
Volunteer, mostly, which (no disrespect to the profess), but volunteers do it because they have a calling, not because they are paid. And let me say up front: ALL first responders do the job because they want, they need, they are called. Not for the money.
But I digress. Again.
My great-grandfather was a volunteer fireman. My grandfather and his best friend started the state’s first volunteer fire department. He served as the Fire Chief, then the Chief of the Board. My Dad was a fireman, then Chief, then Chief of the Board. My brother was a volunteer, now a professional. My husband was a volunteer fireman. My kids have been volunteers. Mom’s brothers were firemen. My cousins are firemen or First Responders.
9.11 means something to us.
Many of these volunteer firefighters went to help at 9.11 Ground Zero. Two of them have died since, of 9.11 cancer.
First Responders are the reason people live. Period. Yeah, there are good and bad ones, like any profession on this Earth. But almost every single person in the US owes their life now, or in the future, to a First Responder. If you haven’t yet met one, you will.
That’s why 9.11 should mean something to them, to us, to every American. And if you think you weren’t directly affected, as an American, by 9.11, you’re wrong.
9.11 means something to all of us.
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