Mardi Meditations #5

 September 11 was a Tuesday. Hence, it doesn't feel inappropriate to title this blog post as part of my "Mardi Meditations" series, even though I am writing it on Thursday, September 11, 2025.

On Tuesday, I drove up to Kennesaw to give my annual 9/11 Memorial lecture.  All but two students in the class had not yet been born on 9/11/01.  That's what happens when you have been giving the same lecture to students for more than 15 years. A generation passes through. 

The idea of nodes of shared memory still resonated with them, however. They all knew exactly where they were at the start of pandemic lockdown in 2020. I found myself thinking about primary and secondary nodes of public memory for each generation.  For myself, 9/11 was definitely the main node, because it coincided with my coming into young adulthood.  Before that, I have a vague early memory of the fall of the Berlin Wall.  It remains to be seen what might count after that. 

I remember every election night since Bush beat Kerry in 2004. I remember moments of political violence: Charleston, Charlottesville, Tree of Life, January 6. But in some ways, those are more of a chronology than a node that takes you out of time. Different people will remember those moments differently.  I remember October 7, but is my memory of that day a "Jewish memory?"

The key with something like 9/11 is that the experience of trauma is shared widely and commonly. The pandemic lockdown was one of those moments. I wonder what it will be for my children's generation? For them, I wish for something wonderful.  More like the fall of the Berlin Wall or the moon landing. 

Meanwhile, I will continue to recognize the profound impact that 9/11 had, not just on myself, but on my generation, and on the nation, and on the world. There is a rupture, an absence of what might have been. Only the lacuna remains. 

9/11 Memorial, June 2024