It has been 23 long years since the terrorist attacks on America in 2001, the day we now refer to as 9/11. For those of us who are old enough to remember that terrible morning, it still feels like it happened yesterday when the anniversary rolls around each year. I was, for all intents and purposes, still a kid in 2001. I was just a freshman at the University of Missouri and had only been away from home for about a month when the whole world seemed to come to a screeching halt. I’ll never forget it. And isn’t that what we all promised to do?

On this year’s anniversary, it’s clear most people around here haven’t forgotten either. I woke up today to plenty of posts on social media meant to honor the memories of those lost in New York, D.C. and Pennsylvania. The first thing on my calendar this morning was a breakfast for first responders at The Salvation Army in Vicksburg that Maj. Janna Torgerson told me is held each year on the anniversary of 9/11. So, even with a hurricane bearing down on us and the city hosting the Destination Downtown event, folks in our neck of the woods didn’t let the anniversary of 9/11 fall by the wayside. So good job, Vicksburg!

But, with each passing year I can’t help but wonder two things as that horrible September day becomes a more and more distant memory. First of all, I always think about my kids. I wonder if I’ve done a good enough job explaining just how important it is that we express reverence for the thousands of people who died that day, without accidentally passing along the grief and anger I feel every time the anniversary rolls around. Or every time I see a pre-9/11 shot of New York’s skyline. Or every time I fly. That day cut deeply for us all and, even though I didn’t lose anyone I knew personally, it still hurts. I don’t want to burden them with any of that, but I do want them to understand the devastating gut punch it was to our country and how important it is we honor the memories of those we lost and the service of those that responded, many of whom have since died as a result. I can’t help but think about my grandparents telling me about Pearl Harbor. I wonder if they felt something similar when they were explaining what was, at that time, the worst attack on American soil in the history of our country.

The second thing that always comes to mind for me on the anniversary of 9/11 is a question. Would the people who died that day be ashamed to see us now? Would they be ashamed of what we’ve become culturally, how we interact with one another or how we talk about the state of our nation? Would they be embarrassed we aren’t doing more to solve our problems? Mostly, I wonder if they would be ashamed by how divided we are. I’m sure many of you have seen the same post on social media this year that I have in relation to 9/11. I’m paraphrasing, but it basically says we shouldn’t forget 9/11, but we also shouldn’t forget who were on 9/12. There’s a lot of truth to that.

I won’t bog down here by recounting how we all came together in the wake of the 2001 attacks. If you were there, you know. If you weren’t, you’ve likely heard the stories. But, we did. It was something beautiful that came from something beyond ugly. Here we are 23 years later and I really believe most of us would love to come together again as a country. We just don’t seem to know how. We can’t seem to reach back and tap into that spring of empathy that flowed so freely – and genuinely – in the aftermath of 9/11. I don’t have the answer for how we reach that place again, but I hope we find it. And I hope it doesn’t take another national tragedy to shock us out of apathy.

It’s a different world nearly a quarter of a century after September 11, 2001, but maybe, just maybe, if we keep our promise to never forget, we’ll eventually find our way back to the united America we became, if only for a moment, as a result of that day.

Blake Bell is the general manager and executive editor of The Vicksburg Post. He can be reached at blake.bell@vicksburgpost.com.