When I think back about the September 11th attacks, I can recall with incredible clarity the way the day unfolded — exactly where I was when I first heard about it, and the reactions of not only myself, but of those around me. I imagine anyone that is my age or older probably remembers just as well. Things like that tend to burn a memory into your mind. As I was not directly affected by the attacks, nor was anyone in my immediate family or anyone that I consider to be close to me in my life, it is very unlikely that I can say anything that has not already been said about the tragedy that befell our country that day. Looking back at it 10 years later does, however, help to open my eyes to something that I realize more and more as I get older; death is both inevitable and unpredictable. It’s not so much that I worry about my own mortality, but that it makes me think about all of the people in my life that have impacted me in some way or another. It makes me appreciate all of the people in my life that I may have taken for granted at one point or another. The reality of the situation is that anyone in my life could be gone at any moment, and there is no way that I can control that. It’s not something that one thinks about everyday, probably because no one wants to think about their friends and family dying randomly. That seems like a less than happy way to get through the day. However, times like this are a good time to remember that things like this can happen. Even if you’re not the type to do anything special in remembrance of those that lost their lives during 9/11, it wouldn’t hurt to remember the people that you still have that are special to you once in a while. It’s impossible to know when you’ll never get a chance to speak to someone again, so why not tell someone that doesn’t already know they’re important to you just how much they mean.