It feels like we’re forgetting 9/11

It’s been 12 years.

And this year it almost seems like America have moved on.

So is that what it takes? 4,383 days? Is that our limit?

It’s only been 626 weeks since the worst terrorist attack on American soil. About 105,100 hours since nearly 3,000 Americans lost their lives at the hands of al-Qaeda.

This year I feel like the anniversary snuck up on us. That’s probably because it doesn’t have a “milestone” number. We paused to reflect on the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11 in 2011. I guess we’ll do it again when we reach 2016 after it has been 15 years.

This year the mood is different. Perhaps it’s just because of the passage of time. Or perhaps it is because we spent so much time, so many years, mourning. Or maybe life has just moved on.

Those images are still fresh in my head though. They’re burned into my brain. I couldn’t get rid of them even if I tried. Those images are where my mind goes every time I hear “Sept. 11” mentioned.

Maybe I’m the strange one, the one who still thinks about Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, every Sept. 11. I still get uncomfortable when I hear a TV commercial talking about a Sept. 11 premiere date. I was uncomfortable when the NFL season started on 9/11 a couple of years ago.

It is a day to remember. It’s a day to think about what has changed in the past 12 years. American soldiers have engaged in two wars since then. Over two million have been deployed, 6,668 American soldiers have been killed. Thousands more have been injured. We’ve got the Patriot Act and the NSA spying on American citizens. The entire world has changed in the past 12 years.

And it seems like this year we’re glossing right over that.

Sept. 11 is not a day to celebrate. It’s certainly not a day to offer discount golf as one Wisconsin course did. It’s a day to reflect. It’s certainly not a day to forget.

But maybe that’s just me.