This is the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.  Although I know time has passed, for me the imprint of the event is seared on my soul.  The time that has passed has not diminished the tragedy or horror of the event – it  stays with me as if it happened yesterday.

On 9/11 many will say, always remember (myself included).  There are many folks like me who will carry this with them for their lifetimes. But for next generations, 9/11 is an item for the history and political science books.  It was an event that had a significant impact on the collective psyche of United States citizens and also was the genesis of many changes in American government policy and reach.  As one gets older, one realizes that one person’s life events is another person’s history lesson.  I am now on the life event side of the equation and have a pre-9/11 and post-9/11 reference points.

Yet, in 1963 when JFK was assassinated I was only 4 years old.  The entirety of my memories and orientation of that event lies in the memory of my mother’s reaction to the event.  My mother cried, so I knew it was important, but I had no other context in my young mind to adequately anchor such information.  JFK’s assassination was a history event for me.

Each year when I speak to my students about the anniversary of 9/11, I have to remind myself  how young they are.  The average range of my students is ages 18-24.  Students in this age range were ages 5-11 when the attacks occurred.  Their vantage point, ability to understand what was going on, and ability to understand it in context was limited in that age frame.  For many of them and the students that follow, 9/11 will be a history event.

Even for this group I have now, the memories they have are likely akin to my memories of JFK – a sense of the loss and impact based on the adults around them.  However, they did engage on other levels (as children often do in such events) – particularly through art or letters – to show support for others (the mourning, the relief workers, the country as a whole) and to help themselves express and deal with their feelings about the event.  Some of these items have been captured and retained in documentaries and in 9/11 archives.  Today, I share a few featured on the PBS site (PBS.com) as a reminder to those living the life event side of history that we have an obligation for the duration of our lifetimes to share the story of 9/11 with the young people who either never experienced it or experienced it in a limited context – we are the ones who are responsible for ensuring that others always remember.