Remembering...

If you turned on the television or opened your laptop (or attended any of the memorial services) this weekend, you couldn't help but be reminded of the horrid injustices committed ten years ago in the name of revenge.
Having spent the fall of 2001 first covering the attacks and then interviewing dozens of victims' families as they searched the rubble in vain for their loved ones and later, as they prepared to say goodbye, I always approach the beginning of this month with trepidation. I go through the motions, writing what's expected of me, and am relieved when it's over.
This year - my first as an editor - I helped coordinate 9/11 coverage all summer, so I was forced to scroll through hundreds of stories and photos, and motivate young reporters to do what I usually dread each year. I feel strange saying I was forced to "face it" because my experience is nothing compared to those who lost family and friends on that beautiful, clear September morning. But confronting my feelings on the subject caused a flood of memories to come rushing back, and it helped me feel good about putting my fears aside as a young intern at my first newspaper job -- writing dozens of "Lives Remembered" stories at The Star-Ledger. It was a small thing in the grand scheme of things, but we helped pay tribute to the thousands of fathers, daughters, brothers, sisters and mothers who never made it home from work that day. And suddenly, they were no longer just victims, but real people with hopes and dreams that were stolen in an instant, all in the name of "revenge."