How Some Years Are More Memorable Than Others

Happy 2008! Ethiopia has a slightly different calendar system than most of the world, which means that their new year is in the middle of our September, and they are 7 years behind the rest of the world. We like to joke about how they are finally catching up with other countries, but in many ways that’s completely accurate. They are improving their infrastructure, but it’s a slow process. Hopefully in 7 years they will finally be up to pace with America and other more developed countries ;)

Back to the idea that we are now in 2008 here. Can you remember what you were doing in 2008? When I first thought about what I was going to write about for my new years blog I immediately thought of (well that’s a lie actually, Jessie gave me the idea) writing about 2008 in America and what I was doing 7 years ago. However, after having to actually count back to remember what grade I was in I realized that I could not remember a single thing that I did in 2008. How sad is that? I called Jessie to tell her that I didn’t think I could write an entire blog about that year when I can’t remember what happened. She quickly railed off some of what happened to her that year, but nothing stuck out to me.

I was in 10^th and 11^th grades (depending on what part of the year). I turned 17. I was in choir at Bosque and active in youth group at St. John’s. Besides that, I can’t say I remember anything huge happening. If I were to stalk my Facebook in 2008 I could probably find out puzzle pieces to my mysterious year, although I don’t know if I really want to relive my high school years. Not that they were bad, but I much preferred college and now “the real world”. I got a new computer my senior year of high school, so I can’t even stalk my own computer for memories. After a lot of rambling, my point is that 2008 in “firenji calendar” just wasn’t a big year for me. But I’m ok with that. Ask me in a few years and I can tell you exactly what I was doing in 2009, 2010, and beyond. Also, sorry to anyone if something big did happen in 2008 with you and I’m just blanking. I would lose my head if it wasn’t screwed on- it’s not personal.

These few days show me just how weird time and memory can be. I can’t remember an entire year, no big memories stick out. And that was only 7 years ago. However, I can remember another day 14 years ago like it was yesterday, when I was only in 4^th grade. As Ethiopians celebrate a new year coming in, new beginnings, and happiness I as an American have a harder time celebrating this day. September 11, 2001 was a day that I will always remember, no matter how many years pass. That to me is something I will never understand. How can something that happened on 1 day many years ago stick with me when an entire year seems to have passed me by?

I work with young children in the states, and when I first asked their ages and when they were born it blew my mind that they were born after September 11. I now understand my parents and grandparents when they have a hard time explaining recent history they actually lived through to those of us who haven’t. It’s surreal to explain something that is so important and vivid in your own life, but that those who were born after won’t understand, no matter how much it’s explained to them. I think every generation has their September 11. A day that has a tragedy so great they can tell you exactly where they were when they heard the horrifying news. For some it’s Pearl Harbor, the day MLK got shot, or the day JFK was assassinated. For my generation, it’s September 11, 2001.

I can tell you exactly where I was, even in 4^th grade. I was sitting in Mrs. Craft’s 4^th grade class as my classmates were discussing something that had happened on the news. My parents didn’t watch the news or listen to news radio, so I was in blissful ignorance for a time. And none of my classmates really grasped what had happened, no one really knew. Mrs. Craft came walking into class with a pasty white face and explained to us that something bad had happened in New York and that we were being let out of school to spend time with our families. My mom was a teacher, so my brother and I had to stay at school with her until all parents were contacted and kids picked up, which took a better part of the day. There was the Annual Golf Tournament that day and so many of the parents and administration were on a golf course, with cell phones limited. The phone lines were so tied up at the school that teachers were using their cell phones to get a hold of parents.

My experience was different than most others. I have friends who grew up around New York and Washington D.C. and tell a much different, sinister, and intense story because they were much closer to the action, their parents or their friends parents and families worked in the buildings that were attacked. We were half a country away and although we felt the power of the event, we had a bit of a geographical barrier. To me and many others, September 11 was just pictures and video on the TV.

My brother, mom, and I got home and my mom immediately turned on the television. I remember my brother who was in pre kindergarten at the time running around the house crying because he wanted my mom to turn the TV off. I at least knew something bad was happening, my brother had no idea of what happened, he just wanted things to be happy again like a pre-k’er does. That’s what’s great about kids, they have this sense of happiness that they want to hold onto no matter what. It’s awful however that we live in a world where bad things like this happen to take that away.

I never really grasped what happened. I think it was always something that I remembered on the news, I can still feel goosebumps on my skin as I watched the towers fall, and I can still tell you exactly where I was when I saw pictures of George W. Bush reading to kids in a classroom and getting news whispered in his ear. However, all of that can’t do justice to the extent of the tragedy and day. When I visited New York City with my mom before Ethiopia we visited Ground Zero. I regret not having spent more time just to reflect. It was powerful to see the names, the flowers, and the water. However, I was preoccupied with finding the next spot, worried about my own health, and noticing all the other tourists. It was powerful to me, but not in the sense I thought it would be.

September 11 changed the way I viewed the world. It really showed me as a 4^th grader that the world is not black and white, good and bad. It shaped the US and the world in general in ways that are still being felt. That was my first brush that I remember with evil. With people who had no visible sense of good to them. It also showed me for the first time the true sense of love and people coming together to support others. I was very proud to be an American the days following that event, because I saw the sense of community that an entire country seemed to find to support the victims of this tragedy. Since that day I have looked around and seen many more displays of this, but that event really opened my eyes.

I have also come to realize that the bad people aren’t always the people you expect. After the attacks on the twin towers, people were quick to blame an entire religion and country. I understand needing someone to blame in that moment. You are grasping for straws and need a place to place blame. But this event showed me that evil can be with victims as well, for many Americans were quick to judge and it became evident to me that good and bad are not what I thought. Bad people are also those who assume all Muslims had something to do with September 11, who sent death threats to students going to school who were head covers, who threatened anyone who had a beard and dark skin, and those who wore American flags as a “sign to the rest of the world that we would kick their butts”. Again, this is a generalization, but September 11 taught me about support, strength, and love as well as heartbreak, evil, the idea there is no clear bad and good, and that sometimes things are just too broad and big to grasp, no matter who is trying to understand it.

What does all of this have to do with Ethiopian New Year, you may ask. Well, here is the moral of this blog and something you already know: Everything is a new beginning, with the past being a memory. Some events and times are just more memorable than others. Whether that’s because something had a giant effect on your own life or because it changed the world (for good or bad). Some days, months, and years might not hold many things to remember, and that’s ok. The memories you remember might not be the best, but they are there to teach us lessons and remind us how we got here. Ethiopia is entering into 2008 with an optimism I haven’t seen in the US in years. People here believe they are improving (they are, although the extent at which they are is questionable). Obama just visited here, they are changing their infrastructure and building it, and development is continuing. 2008 is a new year for everyone here. As people around me celebrate 2008, I continue to look ahead at this next year which is full of possibilities, however I never forget to look back and remember the event that in a lot of ways shaped how I view the world and interact with the people around me.