WHAT?

I was all ready to write another post and answer questions for Meet Me on Monday, but I saw something yesterday that I had to comment on.  I saw a sign that read:  Patriot Day Celebration.  It was for a church in the next town over.  Did I miss something?  When did we start "celebrating" 9/11?  Is it just me, or should that day be a day for reflecting and mourning, not celebrating? 
I went to the church's website to see if anything was mentioned and this is what it said:

"September 11:  PATRIOT'S DAY BLOCK PARTY  7:00 p.m. until Dark. Inflatables and Free Food!  Multimedia Musical Presentation with the _____ ______ Choir"

Somebody please tell me if I'm over-reacting, but I'm just not getting it.  It seems that before Sept. 11 was declared "Patriot Day", this is exactly what people were afraid would happen.  Sept. 11 shouldn't be a day to celebrate, but a day to remember that awful day that changed "normal" for us.  Not just for Americans, but for people all over  the world.

Kids who weren't born on that day or were too young to remember it need to be educated on what happened.  Not in a horrific, scary way (even though it was), but in a realistic, be ready kind of way.  Their world is different than ours was when we were growing up, for sure.  They do not need to think it's a day of celebrating.


When I was cleaning out my dresser a couple of weeks ago, I came across some potassium iodide tablets that were given out after 9/11.  (When we lived in SC, we lived close to a nuclear plant.)  When I found those, it really took me back;  I had completely forgotten about them.  I had forgotten that in the days following 9/11, I kept a contact case and my glasses in my pocketbook...just in case.  We made sure the boys knew what to do and where we would meet up if there was an emergency.  We had a box for emergencies...just in case.  And now?  We don't have a plan, the school doesn't have a plan, and I honestly have no idea how we would all meet up should there be an emergency.  Yes, we've become complacent in these 9 years since the attack.  Time does heal, and time does help us to forget.  Even when we shouldn't.

So, maybe this church is celebrating that we as a country chose to tighten our security and move on; maybe they're celebrating those people's lives.  Maybe they're choosing to celebrate instead of mourn and reflect.  Maybe they did some of that at the "celebration".  I'm just having a big problem with calling it a "celebration".  Am I overreacting?

8 comments:

  1. Nope, not over-reacting. Maybe, though, it is a miguided attempt to somehow bring good out of bad.

    You are right. We should not forget. Forgive, yes. But not forget.

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  2. I don't know if you watched any of the names being read on Saturday at the New York memorial service but several family members said specifically-'Please do not let this become a national holiday' It is not a day to celebrate.

    Your post did get me thinking about our complacency as well. Feels like its time to review a view things with my kids.

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  3. I don't think it should be a celebration, however, I think anything that keeps us from forgetting is good.

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  4. I think like you....it was a day of reflection and mourning....there was not a thing to celebrate there. Flags were flown at half mast...that is not a celebratory time.

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  5. Patriot Day is love of country. I do not believe it is meant to celebrate what terrible things happened that day, but to honor all those, dead and alive, who gave for their country, innocently or on purpose....those who perished; those who pitched in and helped their neighbor.

    Patriot Day is meant to honor our country and all who gave somehow, someway on that day and the days that followed.

    A day as a celebration? I don't think so.

    I did put out my flag...very proud patriot I am! I did retell the story to my children so as to remind them never to forget what happened to our country.

    At our church, patriot day was remembered with some solemn patriotic music. 9/11 was remembered in Mass with prayers for the dead, for the survivors who still suffer, for the family members who suffered loss.

    I wouldn't want it to become a celebration.

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  6. It was awful, but I believe in the Biblical "forgive and forget". Things like this happen in other parts of the world all the time and to have a day for every single one is too much. Sure it's good to remember your love ones that died and the good memories, as long as by "remembering" people aren't harbouring hate and anger to those that did it, because that makes it worse for themselves only. Perhaps the "celebration" was meant to be a sort of "celebration of life" and having fun remembering the good times with those that were lost??? If that's the case I can see it. A celebration by itself is a bit odd though, I do agree.

    Then again, I'm not american and here the day pretty much passes unnoticed, along with the days where such events happen in other parts of the world. I'm just trying to say how I'd feel if it happened here. If you're going to pay tribute to it, I think it should be done like on Rememberance Day (Veterans Day in the states I believe)... Perhaps a moment of silence, some poetry etc, about those that died

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  7. Your not overreacting. I think it is a day for memorial services, for quiet time and reflection. I haven't heard of Patriot's Day.
    I wouldn't have a party.

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  8. You're not overreacting at all. I actually feel the same way about President's Day. How did honoring the births of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln become a time of sales? It drives me nuts! Nothing is sacred anymore.

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