9/11 Remembered

By Anastacia Mott Austin

They say it takes seven years for every cell in your body to replace itself, making you, in essence, a whole new person.

If all of the people have created themselves anew, does that mean our country is regenerated as well? Are we an all-new people?

It’s hard to make a case for that, since the attacks which happened seven years ago are still so fresh in the collective memory. In the combined September 11th, 2001 airliner attacks on the twin towers at the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon, and a thwarted attack on a fourth plane that crashed into a field in Pennsylvania, 3,000 people from more than 50 countries were killed. To some, especially those who lost a loved one or lived near the World Trade Center or the Pentagon, or knew someone on Flight 93, it’s like it happened just yesterday.

Frank Silecchia, who pitched in at Ground Zero helping recover bodies, still has recurring nightmares, as well as the cough he developed from inhaling the toxic dust released that day. Said Silecchia to reporters, "For me, 9/11 doesn't go away."

It makes sense that New Yorkers feel the closeness to that fateful day as if it had just happened.

Eighty-four-year-old Dina LaFond lost her daughter Jeanette LaFond-Menichino, 49 at the time, in the attack. LaFond-Menichino worked on the 94th floor of the North Tower, exactly where the first plane hit.

She and her other daughter, Anita, recorded memories of Jeanette that will be shared as part of the StoryCorps project at the September 11th Memorial and Museum. Until that time, LaFond works as a guide at the existing temporary museum honoring the victims of 9/11, telling people her story.

"It gives you a sense that maybe these other people might have lost someone and don't know how to deal with it," said LaFond to reporters. "And if I tell them that I miss my daughter continuously, it's like having another skin on me, that she is always with me, that I never forget her, and she's an inspiration for me to carry on. And if I didn't do that, I'd really be lost."

Even the two major presidential candidates put aside politics for the day, and joined together to place roses at the site of the twin towers in New York. Neither spoke at the commemorative event, to avoid the appearance of campaigning. They even issued a joint statement, reading in part, "All of us came together on 9/11, not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans."

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg echoed the sentiment. "This is an American issue, and this is an American tragedy," aid Bloomberg. "And we should not politicize that, and we've been very successful in keeping it from being politicized over the years."

Indeed, it’s a solemn reminder that despite our superficial differences and our political disagreements, we all lost something precious that September day seven years ago. As strong as the memories are, and the pain, it’s hard to believe that the day is not still somehow etched into our very cells.