9/11: Twenty years later
Governor Baker’s message for September 11, 2021
When I think of 9/11, the first thing I think about is the joy I’ve had with my family for the past twenty years. On September 11, 2001, almost 3,000 families lost that — all of it — in the space of a few hours. There were heroes everywhere — people who did astonishing things on what would be the worst and final day of their lives. They never came home. They were lost. And the love and joy and support that they gave their families was gone in a flash.
It was a gripping, brutal tragedy– and it fell on families and friends and neighborhoods throughout the country. People got up, brushed their teeth, said good-bye to their loved ones, walked away that day and never came back, never said goodbye. I know what the past twenty years have been like for my family, and I ache when I think about all the things those families have lost. Birthday parties. Graduations. Friday night dinners. Holiday gatherings. Hugs when there were tears. Shared moments of joy.
And how many times did someone say, “He/she would have been so proud of you.”
Another 7,000 families lost sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, moms and dads who died serving on the battlefields in Afghanistan and Iraq. The recent deaths of 13 servicemen and women, including Lawrence’s own Marine Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, at the hands of a suicide bomber, are horrific reminders of the price so many have paid since the attacks on 9/11.
There are, of course, global policy and political issues that surround the events of 9/11 and all that has happened since then. Those issues are important and complex, were bitterly debated before 9/11/01, and have been bitterly debated since then as well. They are intensely important, but they are not what I think about when I think about 9/11.
Instead, I think about all that these families — and so many others around the world — that have been rocked by the violence of war and terrorism over the past 20 years. They lost the love and continued company of one of their own, the memories that they never had a chance to make, and the hopes and dreams they never had a chance to share.
Some people say we all die twice — once when we actually die, and the second time when people stop talking about us. We can’t fix the first, but we can do something about the second.
On this 20th anniversary of one of the worst days of the 21st century in this great country of ours, please take a moment and think about all those loved ones lost then — and since — and the families they left behind. More than most, they need to be remembered. For the past two decades, they had no chance to make memories of their own. Let’s at least make sure they live on — in our thoughts and stories, and in our hearts.
Governor Charlie Baker
