Never Forget

The tenth anniversary moves personal loss into historical memory.  We don’t forget but we do remember in new ways.  After a decade mourning is no longer an active process. It comes in fits and starts as the memories of those we lost lose intensity, and thus some of their meaning. Dreams hold onto the past with a rigid grip, but our lives are now move far from the time of loss and into realms we once thought would be unimaginable. A decade symbolizes a whole new era, a new life, not necessarily for the better, but firmly and decisively different. When closer to the loss we can sometimes fool ourselves that loss isn’t real. After a decade such deceptions no longer hold much appeal. —Charles B. Strozier