Dates never forgotten…

September 11, 2001 - we still remember.  What dates are never forgotten for you?  

In the novel, A Tale of Two Cities © is the contrast, “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…” both occurring at the same time.  For Americans, 9/11 2001 seems like a demarcation point between the best of times before that morning and the worst of times after.  That’s when terrorism literally collided into freedom. 

Do you remember where you were when news of the planes crashing into the World Trade Centers in New York was broadcast?  I always will.  In a flash our generation was tested on what we can endure during the worst of times.  December 7, 1945 tested my parent’s generation; October 24-29, 1929 tested my grandparents’.  On a more personal level April 20, 1999 was the worst of times for my home town. 

It’s amazing what we can accomplish during the best of times; and what we can endure during the worst of times.  The bad times help us appreciate and enjoy the good times.  Here’s how Ernest Hemingway phrased it: 

Life breaks us.  And when we heal, we’re stronger on the broken parts. 

Our ability to gain strength from adversity should come as no surprise, though.  Our ancestry is made of up generations who endured and then grew stronger. Is today’s adversity comparable to theirs? 

For many of us who did not suffer a direct loss of loved ones from these tragic events, our hardships now come in the form of inconvenience and economics.  We work harder today to keep up than we did before; travel has become more difficult; guns are all too prevalent in our society; and in 2020 along came a virus.  Racial injustice has reached a boiling point. 

Things we once dreamed of seem further from our reach.  We have extended our resources close to the breaking point.   But for America, that’s nothing new.  Our country has been on the brink; had parts broken; and healed back stronger for as long as we have been a country.  Were the hardships of the Revolution, the Civil War, the Viet Nam War, the Civil Rights Movement, or any other national, local, personal, or family crisis less hard? 

We are again facing threats to our way of life; and indeed many of our life’s ways need to change.  We are strong enough to do it because we come from generations of strength - families who struggled to make for this country, for their families, and for themselves the best of times.  Like past generations, Americans today will have to re-earn the better things in life.  We must re-learn what those better things are: 

To really enjoy the better things in life, one must first have experienced the things they are better than.  

Oscar Holmolka 

So Friday we will reflect on that never forgotten, life-changing event now known as 9/11.  Like the day an American walked on the moon, or the night the USA Olympic hockey team won the gold medal to Al Michaels’ famous words broadcast around the world, “Do you believe in miracles?”  Our Unknown Sage reminds us: 

The First Rule of Life: 

The best things in life aren't things.       

America endured October 24, 1929 and the Great Depression; grew stronger after the December 7^th, 1941 Pearl Harbor attack; my hometown stands firm following the 4/20/1999 Columbine shooting; we’ve overcome 9/11/2001.  Today, I believe Americans can re-unite in spite of what happened 5/25/2020.  

Dates never forgotten.                                 

GAP 

Did you like this little ditty?  You might enjoy my past posts too: www.TheQuoteGuys.com