Pivot Points
Today is Sunday, September 11, 2011. I woke up this morning, let the dogs out, made some coffee and put up our American flag. I reflected upon the mornings events of 10 years ago, probably like a lot of other Americans did this morning, and opened the newspaper dutifully delivered by our labrador retriever (newspaper retriever), Jake. Most of this Sunday’s edition of the Salt Lake Tribune was predictably and appropriately centered around this important anniversary – a day that the world changed forever.
All of the television networks aired special remembrances of this anniversary. The images, the sounds and the stories still stir emotion in me. I was nearly 3000 miles away when 3000 souls perished. I didn’t know any of them yet the feeling I have is still one of profound sadness.
I think most generations have pivot points – days that forever change how life is lived, either for the good or the bad. We often don’t realize when a major change is happening because it occurs over a span of time. The rapid development of the personal computer and the Internet – these were certainly pivot points but none of us woke up one day and suddenly realized our lives were changed by these things. They simply evolved and we really only understood what an important change they created when we paused for a moment to think about what life was like before having a screen on our desk that became a virtual window to the world. Instant communication with the opposite side of the Earth.
It’s far less common to have a single day become an instantly recognizable pivot point, but ten years ago this morning it was pretty clear that things would be different forever.
I mourn for all the lives lost and for those left behind to deal with the emptiness. Selfishly, I also mourn for the loss of innocence, the sense of cheerful optimism that was generally felt in America on September 10, 2001. Sure, the country had seen some really bad times - wars, economic depressions, societal unrest, and at one time the threat of mutually assured nuclear destruction, but there was, at least in my lifetime of 38 years at that point, a sense that even if things were bad they’re bound to get better. You know, optimism.
Today, sitting here at year 3 of the biggest economic catastrophe since the Great Depression, that optimism is in short supply. Many don’t see light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel, just tunnel. Is this sense of gloom a result of 9/11? Not entirely, but the tragic events of that day ten years ago certainly did contribute to a series of unfortunate changes that seem to continue to cascade over us.
September 11, 2011
