Remembering 9/11: Memorials and Ripples of Grief

Healing Circles, Services, Memorials...today as my colleague and I begin planning a 9-11 memorial event, I am feeling the angst and compassion that comes up in the process. I am thinking about the most difficult part of life; perhaps in some ways more difficult than approaching death itself-the anniversary of death. In the seventh year of remembrance since September 11, 2001, we cannot hear the date of "9-11" mentioned in passing without vivid triggers. Hospitalists are not certainly not excluded from the impact which ripples from the grief that accompany thoughts and experiences of the event. Many therapists I speak to wonder how to approach this day. To formally remember is to open a wound, yet to forget is to deny that which is lurking in all of us. To soothe those who live with the horrendous loss and to honor those whose lives ended too soon; making a sacred space for healing is an important and necessary part of our grieving. Creating a community for remembrance where we gather with many of the same people returning to mourn takes strength, courage and commitment. I am awed by the members of our 'Caring for the Caregiver' group who return each year-wives who lost husbands, woman who lost sons, therapists who lost friends, colleagues...we mourn together. In thinking about the day, I am grateful for music. Music has the ability to preserve and transcend. Our group has preserved its membership through sacredness and continuity. The music speaks to our spiritual needs, allowing us to transcend; and reach out and beyond the mundane daily routine of what we know...into a sacred unity where community members can hold one another in a safe way. How do you approach this day? What is helpful?