In the shower. Driving the freeway. Working out in the gym. Eating breakfast. Enjoying a cup of “joe” on the patio and watching Good Morning America. No one forgets where they were on the morning of September 11, 2001. And wherever we were, we can’t forget the feelings of that day, either. Shock. Fear. Anger. Sadness. Eventually, those emotions gave way to positive actions--resolve, compassion and determination.

Even if the newspaper didn’t remind us that this anniversary has come around, we would still remember. You just can’t forget the night your spouse died or the afternoon your child was diagnosed with cancer or the morning hijacked airplanes flew into the great symbols of our national pride. The trauma evoked by an anniversary is never really gone from our memories.

But anniversaries are good for something else, too. We remember the great times, the qualities that made life better and the values our loved ones lived. Anniversaries are a time for sadness and celebration, reminding us that we always need both. Anniversaries esound in our hearts the uncomfortable truth that we don’t just celebrate life but we also mark death, we don’t just rejoice in the happy times but we weep in the sad ones, too.

The television talking heads wondered aloud that bright clear September morning if this event would change us, if it would change the world. We all wondered if the newfound religious fervor and the spirit of patriotism would prevail. I’ll leave all of that to future historians to evaluate.

But as we remember 9/11, as we call to mind the thousands who died in New York and Washington and Shanksville, we can be overwhelmed with gratitude that we have the ability to remember. And perhaps in the end, the remembering is the greatest gift anniversaries open in our lives.