Today is a very somber day for ALL Americans. If you were alive on 9/11/2001 you remember with painfully sharp clarity how these events unfolded. For me, I was finishing my last year of university in Buffalo, NY and had only just returned to the U.S. that summer from a year abroad in Italy. I remember this day back in 2001 being a beautiful clear and slightly crisp morning. Today, as I look out at a very grey sky accompanied with a cold breeze that signifies summer is preparing to leave us, I’m deeply saddened and crying.

Since they started having ceremonies to commemorate this day, I’ve watched the memorial services every year and like many of you, I cry during those moments of silence that mark when life forever changed for all of us. Each of those moments of silence I feel deep in my body and memories of that day come flooding in along with an intense feeling of sadness. Sadness that so many innocent people just going about their days died at work, many doing jobs that weren’t their passion, but what they had to do to care for their families. Sadness for the families who later found out that their family member, friend, and loved ones whatever the title were gone forever.

We’ll never know what contributions society has missed out on due to their deaths. What we do know and what we all feel, is that they were killed because of the one label they shared, American. And because I can hold two thoughts in my head, I also feel the sadness for the countless people abroad who were also killed and whose lives were forever shattered in the events that followed as America sought to enact revenge for the pain we felt. And yes, I do believe we should have responded to this horrific attack, I’m just not sure that the response we choose was the best.

On this day, we all feel a collective PTSD with every toll of the bell as we feel the weight of our collective sadness. It is one of the few moments in our lives, especially today, that we can all come together without labels. Today we are all just Americans, not white, black, brown, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, but Americans. I hope you will all remember this day when we gather again to practice another uniquely American ritual, voting.

I hope you will remember that when the enemy comes to attack they won’t look at your skin color, stop to ask what god you follow, how much money you make, ask what level of education you have, or where you live. The only label that would matter is American. We are the only ones who put qualifications on what being a “real” American means. We need to adopt the Jewish philosophy that they use for converts to their religion, once someone converts, they never mention that conversion or disparage them for it. It shouldn’t matter if you showed up 10 generations ago or took your oath 10 minutes ago, once you are American that is all that should matter.

That’s what’s glorious about America, we don’t all look alike, we don’t all think alike, and we don’t all believe or pray alike. If we were a box of chocolates, we’d be like that box of mixed chocolates. To the outside world it looks like a box of chocolate, its only after you look at the map that you realize there are different flavors. That’s what makes us great. And although we aren’t the same, we should all value the same basic tenants of being American, something I fear every single day, as so many don’t seem to understand what those are.

America has something for everyone and because of that we are a rich vibrantly colorful country where you can sample the world without leaving our borders. I love living in a country that has ethnic diversity. I love that people here push my buttons and that we can be snarky or flat out grumpy asses, that we can protest what we don’t like and speak our grievances towards our government. And I love that I can be an unabashed atheist while you can believe whatever you want, and your rights don’t depend on my personal feelings and acceptance of them nor yours on mine.

All this other bullshit is meant only to tear us apart. Let’s not let that happen. We need unity in this country now. Let’s honor those who had their choice to live their lives the way they wanted, so violently taken away, by extending that respect of choice to others, even those we don’t agree with.
United we stand but divided we fall.