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When will I stop reliving it?

Even though tomorrow will mark the 11-year (11 years!) anniversary of 9/11, so many memories from that day are as fresh and raw as they were when the events happened. Almost every year in this blog, I talk about 9/11, typically rehashing where I was and what I was doing. But now that more than a decade has passed, I am wondering if it makes sense for me to keep going through it.

Typically, I watch an overabundance of 9/11-related programming. I caught the end of one such show over the weekend, and I am proud (for lack of a better word) that I did not watch the show that followed. I also have some plans tomorrow to keep myself from ODing on shows, though I am sure I will catch a few minutes or more here and there.

Most of the time, I don't think about 9/11, which puts me in good company with most Americans, I suppose. At other times, however, I cannot suppress it.

Last month I drove my mom and two nephews to the airport from two counties away. The flight was scheduled to leave around 5:30 p.m., and we left my mom's house just after 2, just to be safe. We arrived at about 4, only to discover the flight was delayed for an hour, which meant we had to keep two boys, ages 4 and 6, somehow occupied for a few hours. Unfortunately, there is not much you can do on the land-side area of Pittsburgh International; you can sit at the one and only restaurant for only so long. So my kid asked why we could not just go through security, hop on the tran, and take the boys to the play area and just walk around. And I had to tell her that thanks to 9/11, only ticketed passengers have the entire airport.

This morning while driving J to school, I told her that they may discuss 9/11 in social studies tomorrow. As I said the words "nine-eleven" my voice cracked, as it often does. And I told her just that. Her reply, "I can say, '9/11' and my voice is fine. See?"

I can only hope and pray that my kid and the rest of the young world will never have to go through a day (well, few days) like what I and so many others did almost 11 years ago.

Here's hoping and praying.
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