Why I commemorate Sept 12th!

Memories of the tragedy of 9/11 have been inescapable this weekend. It is right and fitting to honor the memories of the fallen.

But I also want to honor another memory. I want us to recall how people reponded, how people came to help in any and every way they could.

The frustration of being in a city far from ground zero, unable to offer direct help, was channeled into an unquenchable determination to find a way to help. My memory of 9/12 of spending over 12 hours in the parking lot of FOX 13 with volunteers accepting donation of bottled water, canned food, clothing, mosey, household item, and more that filled two tractor trailers. I remember a subsequent sorting of multiple truckload at a warehouse and the items were prepared for shipment north. I saw familiar faces, complete stranger, people barely able to make it much less donate, and well heeled civic leaders, all standing side by side, oblivious to any label other than that of "volunteer" throwing box after box until all our muscles ached. This lasted more than a day or week as people continued coming up with ways to help.

That horrible event helped shape a new mindset of services that we have seen again and again in response to hurricanes, tsunamis, floods, tornadoes, and more: we learned how to help each other as never before.

That is the lesson of 9/12.