It was just a few days after September 11th and I was sitting in my shrink’s office for my weekly appointment – hey, I’m from New York and everyone has one – when my shrink told me she had thought about me that week because of the death of the Special Forces soldier in Libya. She wanted to know how I was doing and if it affected me. Then almost out of curiosity she asked how the 9/11 anniversary affected me personally, if I tend to feel very angry on that day.
Seems normal a shrink asking her patient how they are feeling right? But the interesting thing was, even though she has known me for quite some time and knows I am a journalist and military wife, she has never brought up current events in any past sessions. And although I do speak of military related things, current events is something I would rarely bring up in an appointment. So my answers were probably not what she expected.
Out of sight, Out of mind
I suddenly knew that the brazen terror attack on our Embassy and subsequent murders of ourU.S.Ambassador to Libya and three former U.S. soldiers on the anniversary of 9/11 had finally forced the general public to pay attention. But the thing is I already pay attention, my anger doesn’t rise and fall just because of an anniversary. The anniversary of 9/11 to me, is a day to feel the great sadness for all the victims families and their losses. A day to honor the heroes lost and the ones who since then, have tirelessly fought to uphold our freedoms and have made the ultimate sacrifice. It is a day to acknowledge a loss of innocence for so many military families, who like me, have had their lives turned upside down for the past ten years in ways many could not imagine.
I told her sadly this news is normal for me, there are soldiers getting killed almost everyday, that’s my reality.
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Seems normal a shrink asking her patient how they are feeling right? But the interesting thing was, even though she has known me for quite some time and knows I am a journalist and military wife, she has never brought up current events in any past sessions. And although I do speak of military related things, current events is something I would rarely bring up in an appointment. So my answers were probably not what she expected.
Out of sight, Out of mind
I suddenly knew that the brazen terror attack on our Embassy and subsequent murders of ourU.S.Ambassador to Libya and three former U.S. soldiers on the anniversary of 9/11 had finally forced the general public to pay attention. But the thing is I already pay attention, my anger doesn’t rise and fall just because of an anniversary. The anniversary of 9/11 to me, is a day to feel the great sadness for all the victims families and their losses. A day to honor the heroes lost and the ones who since then, have tirelessly fought to uphold our freedoms and have made the ultimate sacrifice. It is a day to acknowledge a loss of innocence for so many military families, who like me, have had their lives turned upside down for the past ten years in ways many could not imagine.
I told her sadly this news is normal for me, there are soldiers getting killed almost everyday, that’s my reality.
READ FULL ARTICLE:
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