Never Forget

There were so many posts on Facebook about the tragedy that occurred eighteen years ago today that has simply been remembered as 9/11.  There were stories of those who lost their lives, there were memes reminding readers to never forget, videos from that day and pictures of memorials built since that time period.  It was hard for me to fathom that it had actually been eighteen years since the tragedy.  Meg and her fellow freshmen at IU were just babies on that day.  They had no memory of the event.  

This was the first year in a long time that I did not follow all of the stories of that day.  When I taught we always spent a portion of class studying the facts of 9/11 and the after effects.  Today, I noticed that instead of thinking about the tragedy of years ago, I spent more time reflecting on the sadness that my cousin felt on 9/10 several years ago.  It was the day that she had to give birth to her twin daughters that had passed away in utero.  Although I thought about her and sent her words of encouragement during that challenging time period, I knew that words would not ease the pain.  It was a tragedy in her family that they would have to endure.  

Yesterday she posted a picture of her two boys at the memorials of their older sisters.  Although the siblings would never meet in this lifetime, it was such a joy to see them all together today.  I texted her last night just to let her know that I was thinking of her as I often do.  I know that the boys will never replace the love that she feels for her little girls, but it sure brought happiness to such a devastating situation.  It gives me hope that all those who lost loved ones on 9/11 found a little bit of happiness in their lives as well.