Early last week, while doing things in and around Peachtree City, I overheard a conversation between two women. They were discussing the 9/11 remembrances going on across the country; the gist of the conversation was this: “that it was time to get over it.”
I was flabbergasted and couldn’t believe what I had heard, “get over it.” As I watched the memorial service at Ground Zero Sunday morning I couldn’t get that conversation out of my mind as I watched the names of those who perished that day scroll across the TV screen.
Each name represented a life, and in this country life is precious. My son once asked me what makes the United States different from other countries and I remember telling him that among other things, it is the power of the individual that makes this country great. That picture-perfect September morning we lost almost 3,000 individuals.
We are a country that was born out of ideas and ideals. We do not share a common heritage or ethnicity but it is the power of those ideals that form the fabric of this country. It is also tragic events like Sept. 11 that remind us that we are one nation.
I grew up in an Italian family in New Jersey and I remember my grandfather telling me of his trips in his father’s horse and wagon going up to Ellis Island to pick up the relatives from Italy so that they could “live in the greatest country in the world.” I thought about that as I watched all of the Italian names scrolling across the screen, many of whom were from New Jersey, and how each of them were descendants of immigrants who wanted to start a new life in this great country.
My grandfather would often say how privileged we were to live in New Jersey because it was so close to the history that made this country great. As a result, my family would make frequent trips to Washington, D.C., New York City and Philadelphia, always going to museums and historical places, imbuing me with a sense of history and national pride.
We saw national pride on display in the days after 9/11 as we were a country in a state of shock watching the stories unfold but knowing that collectively “we” would get through this somehow.
Life here in the U.S. will never be the same as a result of what happened on 9/11. My boys were 13 and 9 at the time and I remember President Bush saying that it would take a long time to defeat this enemy, maybe as long as 10 years. I did the math. It was pretty much the nightmare of any mother.
We all have stories of where we were and what we were doing that day and how this event, like other historical events, has led to the “loss of our innocence” as a nation as we continue 10 years later to still fight this cowardly, insidious enemy.
Much has changed as a result of that tragic day 10 years ago. Our lives have a clear date of demarcation, what life was like pre- and post-9/11. Quite honestly, I will never get over it, and never forget it, and I hope and pray that as a country, we won’t either.
Vanessa Fleisch
Peachtree City, Ga.
[Mrs. Fleisch is a member of the Peachtree City Council.]
