Written by Gloria Pazmiño
Photo Credit: Gloria Pazmiño | Manhattan Times
Whenever people learn that the day of my birthday in conversation, there is always a pause. It is followed often by a slight groan, sometimes accompanied by an apology.
“Oh that must be terrible,” some people say.
What they don’t know, and what I have grown to learn through the years, is that it isn’t so terrible, and that as the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks nears, I too will be a year older on the day which our nation will forever continue to commemorate.
Like everyone I know, I’ll always remember what I was doing that day. I’ll remember the confusion I felt as I walked home from school while my City drowned in chaos, and my still not being completely aware of the events that had unfolded. I’ll remember my mother’s attempt at explaining what was happening and her telling me how lucky we were.
It was a birthday that I never forgot, and since then celebration has always been a hard thing to understand.
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