Everyone of our generation remembers where they were September 11,2001. It was a defining moment, a pivotal point in our country's history.
I was in El Paso on a hospice rotation in medical school. I spent the day in my short white coat driving in the hot dust of El Paso and across the border in Juarez to make home visits to patients in their last months. Most didn't have televisions but in the houses of those who did, I would try to catch glances and translate from the Spanish stations what was happening. I don't think I really understood the extent of the crisis in those moments, which was probably for the best considering I had patients to care for. I remember getting home, needing to hear Micah and my parents' voices from Houston. I wanted to know they were ok and I wasn't as alone as I felt 8 hours away. I remember watching the news for hours on end with my neighbor, horrified at the scenes and crying for those all of involved. I remember heading to the airport 4 days later to fly home for the weekend, beyond terrified to get on a plane.
Devastating. Horrific. Unthinkable. The attacks of 9/11 were all of those things and more. People, children, families, cities were forever changed. Many have had to live with grief and heartache everyday since. We will always remember.
The US sadly felt a heavy impact on 9/11 in a way we never had before. Our safety was on the line. Our confidence was shattered. Our bubble burst. The unimaginable happened on live television and played out in front of our eyes. We were flung into a new understanding of death and sadness on our doorstep.
In our blessed country, it can be easy for us to forget that war, mass casualty and terrorism are a part of our world. Others don't always have the same luxury. There are people all over the world who have dealt with tragedy, some who are forced to live it almost daily.
Over 600 were killed in political violence just last month in Egypt. Over the past few days, close to 50 have died in Northern India religious riots, with fighting continuing. In Syria, sources report that 100,000+ have died since July in ongoing civil wars. Even here in peaceful Norway, 87, mostly youth, were killed in 2011 terrorist attacks not 5 miles from where we live.
I don't argue that one incident is worse than the other. I don't claim to call any of these equivalent to 9/11. I don't all at mean to take away from its gravity.
What I point out is that it's easiest to focus on our differences.
As a physician, I sometimes tend to rationalize a patient's condition to avoid an emotionally connection. I couldn't get lung cancer like him because I don't smoke. I would never lose a limb to diabetes like her because I eat well and run everyday. I would have started antibiotics much earlier than him and not ended up with an infection that bad. I'm different. I'm not like them. That couldn't happen to me.
The same is true in our general thinking. Our understanding of cultures and lifestyles different from our own is limited. We can rationalize violence elsewhere and disconnect ourselves from those tragedies because we aren't like them.
But really, we aren't all that different. We are all people. We have unique struggles and worries. Our experiences are not the same. But we are all children of God. No one deserves to suffer. No one should have to grieve alone, regardless of country or race or political affiliation or religion.
So today, on this important day, along with remembering the families, the first responders, and all the people effected from 9/11, I would hope we would take some time to consider we are not alone. Give some thought to those struggling with us. Remember the Africans, the Egyptians, the Indians that are living grief in their own way as well. It doesn't matter your political take on UN action or who is right or wrong or where Syria is on a map, all that matters is that they are human. It's what connects us all.
