Kelly wrote:
Greg,
There was a change in everyone, immediately following and a short time after. That change is now gone unfortunately. No ones fault, it's human nature that distance removes the initial effect.
I still get flooded with emotions, as Roland is saying, and probably like most people when I see those pictures all over again but I wouldn't say I am a changed person.
I did not lose a family member.
My sister in law, who used to be very fun and very outgoing, is a changed person. Since losing her brother she has been distant from the family where as she used to spend a lot of time with us. When we do see her she is in this sorta numb quiet state. My hope is that one day I see her laugh again and gets peace with it but...maybe she already has.
I'm sorry to hear your sister has withdrawn as a result, Kelly. I will pray for her.
What I meant was not so much that individuals have changed, but that the world is a different place, with a different realization of evil and its power and reach. There is no way, for instance, that a low flying plane over NYC could cause anything but near panic. Only a myope would take a 747 on a joy ride down the Hudson past the Manhattan skyline.
A young (18 year old) girl I spoke with a month ago described her generation as having been formed by 9/11. As is often the case, I was pursuing a thought and didn't think to ask how she saw that. I'm an idiot.
We have adapted, if that's what you mean. Things still look pretty much the same. There was an agreeable and pronounced change immediately after; people's pet theories and prejudices were humbled into silence. A soft and highly feminized, egocentric culture met a hard, over-the-top masculine culture, and the effect was chastening. And yes, I agree to some extent, this has all come back to, for lack of a better term, normal, but I'd argue that the divide between the utilitarian and spiritual viewpoint of man has been thrown into greater relief.
I know a huge shift has taken place and I feel it quite personally; people who were once my friends are now – not so much.