09/09/2026
This week marks 25 years since the 9/11 attacks.
I recently watch a video from Insider on how the reflecting pools at the 9/11 memorial in New York City were cleaned. It was an interesting video, and I'll share it below, but I noticed something.
As the years go by, the more detached people are becoming from this moment. It does make sense in some way. After all, for many children, it's just something they learn about in history class. But there are probably adults out there right now, living in New York City, who walk past the memorial on a daily basis on their way to work and never give it a second thought.
What stood out to me from the video was not just the love and care the workers put into maintaining this memorial, but the utter disrespect that others have for it. Throwing trash into the reflecting pool, defacing the marker that contained the names of those lost.
And I kept thinking about what that means as time passes because eventually, there will be no one walking through that memorial who personally remembers September 11.
We can't expect every generation to feel history the way the people who lived through it did. But we can teach them to understand it. We can preserve the places that tell its story. And, at the very least, we can teach them to treat those places, and the people they represent, with some measure of respect.
Watch the video and let me know what you think:
The two waterfall pools at the 9/11 Memorial serve as the centerpie...
