9/11 Reflection: My Birthday Just Isn't the Same Now

In the movie Sixteen Candles, the nerd character played by Anthony Michael Hall sings, "Today is your birthday, Da-na-na-na-na-na! It's my birthday, too!"

This was a popular song for me to sing on my birthday, Sept. 11, but ever since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, I haven't been able to sing.

It wouldn't be appropriate.

I was on the campus of Sacramento State University when news first broke out that the nation had been attacked. I remember the horror of watching the towers fall, the terrible footage of the planes crashing into the World Trade Center and the fear of not knowing who was behind the attacks.

The day wasn't supposed to turn out that way. Not just for me because it was my birthday, but for the thousands who died that day and those who continue to die overseas fighting the war on terror.

Today, I reflect on the day that forever changed this nation and think about the ways that it has personally affected me, aside from messing up my birthday.

I think of my friend , who was killed while serving in Iraq. Jerry was manning an Army checkpoint in the Baghdad area when insurgents attacked the checkpoint with an improvised explosive device. 

The bomb was attached to a car that insurgents drove towards the checkpoint, toward my friend. Jerry was doing the job that so many of our young men and women are doing oversees to ensure our freedom here in the U.S., and prevent future 9/11's from happening. I think about each and every single one of them.

I think of all the security measures taken at local airports - the grumbling of passengers as they pass through security checkpoints. I think of the way that air travel has changed altogether, and the ways that our enemies would attack us when we are at our most vulnerable. And I get angry.

I think about the death of Osama Bin Laden and can't help to feel a sense of closure, at least for the events of 9/11. But I know that there are others who are willing to take his place, to harm us in our own back yards. And I realize that 9/11 still affects all of us today.

I also think about the ways that people memorialize the day and set it aside as a day of remembrance.

Carlos Villatoro is an editor at Patch.com. 

What are your memories of 9/11? How does the day continue to affect you?

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