Once Upon A Time…

Remembering historical events and

considering their significance for families today

That Tuesday, I had woken up a little later than usual and got ready for work in a hurry. My friend who was in town from Texas and crashing on my couch was up, and had the T.V. on. Rushing to leave my apartment, I caught only a snippet of what was unfolding in New York. The first tower had been hit. I shook it off and continued on my way.

I called my cousin, whose husband was an active duty Navy captain with a security clearance. She had said the situation was bad, and according to her husband, nine Iraqis were detained at the San Diego-Tijuana border that same morning trying to enter the United States. I hadn’t noticed until I was off the phone, but the interstate was empty. Everything was somehow closing in. I called my mom and told her I loved her.

The few of us that were in the office walked around like zombies, not saying much at all to one another. We didn’t watch the news or talk about the situation. Our normal business-as-usual environment was in full effect, but work was impossible.

On the way home, I noticed one radio station played nothing but music. No updates, no ads. Just music. I appreciated it at the time, thought how smart it was for a station to help soothe a stunned community. Like my day at the office, it somehow made sense not to think about the situation.

But reflecting on that day, I see what was missing. The most important thing in a time of crisis: communication. Why not talk about the situation? Why not discuss what it is and why it’s happening? Yes, in times of disasters, we must act, but why is a major portion of the American way to ignore? Keeping calm and carrying on is good and all, but I believe we should do a better job of processing tragedy like the terrorist attacks of September 11 with more conversations, out in the open, all feelings, fear, and faith on the table.

As parents, we must have frank conversations about world events with our children, but only when and where appropriate. And instead of stoking fear as our sensationalist media does, we ought to instill ways to solve crises and problems when discussing these matters with our children.  The world is coming at us faster than ever, and it is up to us to slow it down. Talk about it, understand it, then move forward.

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Photo by Axel Houmadi on Unsplash