Reflections on the Anniversary of September 11th

by Councilman Scott Peters
September 2002

For me, September 11, 2001, started like any ordinary Tuesday. I was on the way to the gym that morning when I heard that a plane had hit one of the twin towers. I figured a pilot had lost control of a small commuter plane and I hoped not too many people had been hurt.

It wasn't long before the gym radio told me that this was no ordinary Tuesday at all. After we canceled our City Council meetings, I spent a panicked morning emailing and calling to locate my friends from New York University, where I'd attended law school. Fortunately, none of my close friends were hurt. But over the course of the past year, it's obvious that all Americans have been injured by those attacks. And very few of our days have seemed ordinary since last September.

For a long time, it's been easy for those of us who are fortunate to live in the United States to take our comfort and security for granted. That's not so easy anymore. Many of us lost someone or know a family who lost someone. Many family members have gone to war. Families of fire fighters and police officer have to be more anxious than before. Others are affected in smaller ways, like those long airport waits. Others I've spoken to have birthdays or anniversaries on September 11. Even that is a small reminder of the terror of last fall.

Children have been especially affected. My son, now eight, has always been irrepressibly cheerful and carefree. He still is, but now sometimes asks, out of the blue, whether Osama Bin Laden is still alive. That's not uncommon for children. A new poll released by Marist and Children's Health Fund found that 69 percent of New York City parents who were surveyed, and more than 40 percent nationwide, say their children continue showing psychological trauma. The signs include nightmares, anxiety, headaches, depression and clinginess.

For all of us, there are more questions, more unknowns and more uncertainty than a year ago. We can't take our good lives for granted, and I've tried not to do that this year. I've tried to appreciate my family, my citizenship and my freedoms. I've cherished my religious freedom this year, and have felt much more connected at church. I've tried to remember and honor those who sacrificed to fight for those freedoms. And I love living this beautiful and vibrant city. I'm trying never again to think of our American treasures as ordinary.

I also celebrate all the positive things that have happened since September 11. There is less ambivalence about being a patriot than I've seen in my lifetime. The attacks brought our city close together and our City Council close together.

Our American geography has given us relative security, and the wisdom of our founding fathers has bestowed on us freedoms envied around the world. As San Diegans we have been blessed with a beautiful city with rich human and natural resources. September 11th has shown us that simple things we considered ordinary are truly extraordinary. And our new found appreciation of our extraordinary gifts has brought us closer to our families, our neighbors, and our fellow Americans.