Tragedy

           When deciding to talk about tragedy, I think one of the most important things is empathy.  The ability to understand and relate to someone else is very comforting especially when talking about a difficult topic like the vents of September 11th. I don’t remember much about 9/11 because I was very young.  It was very difficult trying to understand what actually happened.  It was very difficult for me to understand why anyone would do something so terrible.  

                When I was in eighth grade, I had a history teacher that told us a very personal story about 9/11.  When she first heard about the planes crashing, she realized her sister was supposed to be on one of the flight. She called her sister several times, but could not get ahold of her.  She was desperate and preparing for the worse, but finally her sister answered the phone and said that she over slept and missed her flight. My teacher explain that she began to cry in joy.  She said that her sister was confused because she didn't know what had happened, but eventually understood why she was so emotional.  Her story really touched me.  It made me connect to her in a real personal way.  She was able to relate the tragedy to a group of student that only knew about 9/11 through books and newspapers.

I think that 9/11 was a wakeup call and reality check for the United states.  Americans never thought that something like 9/11 could happen in our own country.  We always felt really safe.  It always seemed like terrorist acts only happened in other countries.  For that reason, it makes this event really difficult to discuss because people get scared even if they didn’t experience it personally.  Even after all these years, discussing the tragic events of 9/11 are terrifying to many people, but I think the discussion must happen. We need to honor the people that were personally involved and the memory of those who died. 

                If we are discussing the events with someone that has some personal connection to 9/11, it is very important that we are aware of the situation.  It needs to be a comfortable setting for the person with the history of the event.  When discussing the tragedy, it is also important to have an appropriate tone of voice and correct language that will not be offensive. 

To conclude, a tragedy like 9/11 is clearly something most people would rather not discuss, but it’s really important to revisit the historical events for future generations.  Avoiding the discussion and pretending that it never happened can be worse that discussing the tragedy and confronting any concerns or uncomfortable feelings someone may have.  The discussion can take place by making sure that we thoughtful and sensitive.