What can happen in 9 years?

Today is not about people who would burn a holy book.

Today is not about people who watched the events of this day from afar.

Today is not about politics.

Today is not about which president would have done what.

Today is a day for soft voices, meditation, remembering, and love. Yes, love.

Today is a day to think with love and care of those for whom this is not just a day to remember. Today is a day to think with love and care of those people who are missing someone today, someone who was 9 years younger, someone whose life was snuffed out in a way so violent, so tragic, so unexpected, that it still cannot be believed.

In 9 years, a little girl of 11 has become a college student

A pre-teen has reached voting age (and drinking age)

A 10 year wedding anniversary is almost ready to turn 20

9 years is enough time for someone to go through high school and college and enter adulthood head on

9 years is a long time to miss someone.

Today, my heart weeps for those who must remember today with horror rather than with simple remembrance. Today, I do not think of those we lost as heroes, as numbers, or as faceless victims in countless photos shown callously here and there. Today I think of mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, wives and husbands, cousins, aunts and uncles, friends, and co-workers. People like me. People like you. And the people who miss them. I will always remember how they died. I will not forget that they lived.

Cherish everything a little more today. Hold your children close. Let the sun bathe your face. Admire the grey puffy clouds. Call a friend or a relative and relish in the fact that even if they don’t answer right away, they are there. Live life today. Life it to the fullest.

Image by Bev Lloyd-Roberts. http://www.sxc.hu/profile/BeverlyLR