This post is not an author's note, nor a random chapter to throw in to keep everyone satisfied til the next chapter (which I promise will be soon), but this is just a quiet remembrance for what happened 10 years ago today. I'm not going to write a fic to honor the day or the families because I simply don't dare try. There are too many stories of familes torn apart; of people who fought against all odds and saved countless lives and sacrified their own; of children who didn't grow up knowing a parent; of people who have lived ten years without their other halves; of people who stand watching the pain and suffering of others, wishing they could do more.
I don't know what this day means to everybody else, but to many, I know it may mean everything. It may mean the anniversary of nearly 3,000 dead; the beloved people who died in the World Trade Centers; the 40 brave passengers who overtook the hijackers and crashed the plane into a field before it could reach its destination; and the lost lives at the Pentagon. Ten years later and families are still suffering. There are families with no mothers, no fathers, no brothers, no sisters, no chance to fill that hole that was left behind. Ten years later and we're still building up from ground zero.
Not too long ago, America reached a sense of closure at the death of Osama bin Laden. It wasn't about achieving a sense of vengeance, but about reaching closure at the thought that the one responsible was brought to justice. It was about knowing that the man who caused 9-11 can no longer cause such things, that there may be a turning point in the current war, and perhaps the 3,000 lost can rest in peace.
Hell, I even read an article of Obama visiting the three memorials for that tragic day and one such person thanked him for 'getting bin Laden.' I remember the day the news broke out on his death, and in front of the White House, a crowd of people stood all night, singing their relief at closure, grief for their lost ones, love for the ones they have left, and their pride in our country.
Ten years ago, America came together in a time of sorrow and grief and despair. Ten years later, we simply come together in a time of remembrance and honor.