Nine Eleven
It's all in the numbers
by Ross Vick
Two odd numbers: one prime one not.
One thing of it is, they will someday become as a much a part of the social wall paper as have Twelve Seven and Six Six: Pearl Harbor and D-Day at Normandy. Those world defining, or certainly country defining dates have all but been lost by anyone born after 1970.
The other thing is that previous generations didn't have the mind set, media savvy or technology induced reason to boil important dates down to numbers. We don't even say "September 11th" when we describe 9/11. We just say: "Nine Eleven" and anyone with in ear shot knows exactly what that means.
When you see "man on the street" TV reports and observe how people respond to: "When was D-Day?" or "Why is December 7th an important day?" and people can't answer, it confirms that as time passes, so will the anguish so many of us feel about seeing those towers burn, the Pentagon slashed and the Pennsylvania pasture gashed.
That day, September 11, was an epiphany for me. It started my thought process about how to restructure my life so that it would have meaning beyond a paycheck. A year later, I quit an executive position at a sales and marketing firm and waded into the great harbor of music. As I tread my daily water, watching the metaphoric yachts of the talented and lucky cruise by and wash me in their wake, I sometimes think of those people who on December 7, June 6 and Nine Eleven who didn't give up. And that keeps me going.
And if the one good thing we can all get out of the chaos and sadness is one poignant moment to reflect upon to keep us going, then that is how you embrace the sorrow and make it work for you. Making those sacrifices have meaning is one way of dealing with it. So as we boil our lives and relationships down to a couple of numbers and we remember 9/11, find time to also remember the people those numbers and all of those others represent.
