9/11: ‘Treat Each Day Lovingly, Carefully’

Everywhere I go today I hear the phrase, “Things will never be the same.” I couldn’t disagree more: “Things” have not changed. The tragedy of 9/11 had been planned for years; only we were blissfully unaware.

So is the world different now than before the tragedy? Not in the least. Only we have changed. We are stronger, wiser, more in touch with reality--diminished, of course, by the loss of lives and friends. But that process too is ongoing as an inevitable part of life.

My wife and I belong to a generation which uses the opportunity of the holidays to keep in touch with friends we do not see on a regular basis. This practice has its trauma. A card arrives that bears only one name where there had always been two, and, as we fear, “around the corner, a vanished friend.” We mourn, share fond memories and then move on.

Our world is--and always has been--a dangerous place. We are not always endangered by evil, but we are always endangered by accidents, age, disease. One must conclude, therefore, that we must treat each day as a newborn child--lovingly, carefully and tenderly, for its time too is limited.

Don Stanley

Westlake Village