1/ I’ve been letting my kids watch some of the news since the event they inadvertently witnessed on tv two weeks ago. I want them to see some parts, so that they always remember. Comments are welcome here. I have no idea what the magic potion is for parenting.

2/ I pool my students every year. Ask them to tell me what they remember about the 9/11 attacks. It’s been sad and informative for me personally - the differences in time zones, regions, country location, nationalities, ethnicities, races, religions, & especially age perspective.

3/ I’m grateful to start each semester that way. To hear the personal experiences of my students. Because it provides a foundation for how I try to teach that particular course. I’m old, but at least I am smart enough to know that I don’t know much, and I’m always learning.

4/ and if my students are too young to remember 9/11, then I ask them if it has affected them personally - their families and their loved ones. What I’ve observed about that tragic event, through the eyes of my students, is that the attack has rippled through generations.

5/ Like that horrible day, the only thing I am grateful for is that I have witnessed the events with my own eyes. So that I can remember, and try to explain it to others. And so that my kids will remember, and talk to me about it. But I am so heartsick with what I’ve seen.