Some dates are impossible to forget:  the bombing of Pearl Harbor ; the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and John Lennon; and now the attack on the World Trade Center .  No matter if it’s been 60 years or 5 years, just the mention of the date alone arouses deep emotion, patriotism, and sorrow.

 

No matter your political affiliation, it is hard to dispute the sense of unity felt in the immediate aftermath of that horrific event.  Yet, five years later, we are back to being typically American, we point fingers to lay blame and we tend to forget that we are a nation of immigrants.  We react to the chance of something happening by exploiting the little details and miss the big picture.  I find myself asking the questions, “What have we learned?” and “How can we honor the innocent people who lost their lives?”  For me the answers to these two questions are connected.

 

The lessons I speak of are not the big ones about national security or even terrorism.  They include how we live and work.  I believe that if you ask the family members of those who died on September 11, 2001 they would tell you that they wish that they could have had one more spirited conversation, gone fishing one more time, take another vacation.  I don’t think they’d say take one more meeting or write a longer memo.  If you haven’t gotten the hint yet, the way to honor those men and women who died that day is to live our lives with purpose.  Try to make each day count and never forget the power of love and forgiveness.  Celebrate!  Celebrate special occasions and routine events as well.  Be thankful for the normal things in life. 

 

For some the idea of celebration may seem easier to say than to do.  Each year on September 11 my dad calls me to wish me a happy birthday.  Since 2001 I have been pretty low key about the whole idea.  “It seems inappropriate.”  I tell him.  Yet, with his paternal wisdom he tells me that no matter how many horrific things happened on this date, one terribly important and memorable thing did happen and it deserves a great big celebration.

 

To some this may seem like a simple suggestion.  But as you walk around the office on Monday, take a little more time to enjoy the company of your co-workers.  Enjoy the fact that you have an office to go to because for thousands of people who survived the attack their lives will never be the same.