So yesterday, the Wife and I tried to talk to the kids a bit about what happened 10 years ago on that day. I even pulled up some Youtube footage so they could see the destruction. Being the age they are at, the idea of a large building being destroyed only existed in their minds as action in a movie or video game, so they thought it was kind of cool.
The Wife and I both explained that there was nothing “cool” about what happened. That there were real people and real lives lost that day. As well as the real destruction of buildings around Ground Zero. By the end of it, they understood that a bad thing had happened that day.
But still, it seemed clear that the concept was too foreign to them. Or, perhaps more accurately, it was something that hadn’t happened to them so they weren’t too bothered by it. After thinking on it, I concluded that making that day theirs wasn’t possible. Something conceptually, but intangibly, large isn’t within their capability to truly appreciate.
In some ways, that’s just as well. They are still young and should be allowed to have their innocence and to worry about whether they have to eat hot dogs or ham sandwiches for lunch, about whether they’ll get enough time on the Wii or DS, about their dance classes and soccer practices. They should have their chance to believe only in all the good things in the world.
But that time can’t last forever. The only question is whether it’s something they’ll come to understand in their own time, or if the lesson will be forced on them by their own 9/11. I know which one I hope for them.