The Missing Pieces We Carry After 9/11

“The memories are so vivid,” says Lomonaco, who helped start a fund for the families of his staff and who has gone on to run several successful restaurants in the city. “A generation has grown up since then, but it still seems like yesterday to me.”

A 25th anniversary marks a swath of time that can be illuminating because, to someone who is younger than 30, it feels like an eternity. Or a lifetime, which to someone who actually is 25, it is. But to someone who is over 50, as I am, it feels like a chapter. A long one, perhaps. But, still, a part of something else. 

9/11 is a hinge of time that separates generations. It shouldn’t be surprising—but it always is—when I ask young folks about 9/11, and they just can’t get their hearts around it. It’s something that they learned about in class or saw on YouTube. They don’t feel it like I do. Like we do. 

Those of us who are moved by this anniversary—no matter how close we were to the actual tragedy—should find some way to talk about it. “We have an obligation,” Lomonaco says. “When we talk about the people who died, we’re acknowledging the significance of their lives.”