In 2009 a US Airways jetliner crash-landed on New York’s Hud­son River. Luckily there were no casualties. The close call brought people to their knees, praying to God thankful to be alive. Evey­body hailed the pilot as a hero. Then after the euphoria, the law­suits came. In 2011 after the first few months following the 9/11 at­tacks it was noted that the num­ber of churchgoers dramatically went up as people tried to find divine solace and comfort. As time went by, however, things began to go back to normal. To mention a few, anti-religious groups once again started their attacks on anything that repre­sented God and gay advocates continued pushing for what they thought was their right. The hunt for those responsible for the 9/11 attacks became more of a politi­cal agenda and excuse to beef up military budgets. It seems that after all these years the memo­ries of 9/11 was no more but an inspiration for Hollywood writers and pyrotechnicians. It’s sad but as expected peo­ple naturally have short-term memories. It was said that trag­edies bring people together - but only for a short time. Note that politicians and community lead­ers join hands to rally the forces every time there is a war. But once the confrontation is over or prolonged they go back to their usual bickering and internal war against each other.

This month celebrated the tenth anniversary of 9/11. Televi­sion networks and news media featured heart-breaking stories, commentaries and documenta­ries of accounts of that dreadful day. I just wonder what’s so spe­cial about ten years. Is it a magic number or a symbolic milestone? If the purpose of these tenth an­niversary celebrations was to re­fresh our memories, then it suc­ceeded in that aspect, however, just like anything else the memo­ries will once again evaporate as time goes on.

By the time 25 years have passed, the next generation may not even remember. The only place 9/11 would have by then may just be on those realistic video games that future kids will have. One thing good that may come out is, after the memo­ries are gone, travel and those ridiculous airport security proto­cols would soon vanish