September 11, 2019

Posted

It's on a Wednesday this year. And like the hole that was left in lower Manhattan and in our hearts, the date sits in the center, central space on this calendar week, reminding us that wherever we are, wherever we will be, there will always be September 11.

Of so many sad moments in the days after 9/11/01, one that sticks with me was the memorial service I attended for a victim of the attack at the parish of St. Raphael's Roman Catholic Church in East Meadow.

Relatively new to the area, I had never been to a service at St. Raphael's and came into a local religious community that, like others in the U.S. at that time, was reeling and unsure of its future. Our focus that day was on the loss of life and the family that mourned this tragedy but little did I know of my mind's master plan. Eighteen years later I can see the pews and altar, hear the hymns and various melodies and remember the moments like a motion picture in my head.


I think of this memory now, and all the others to remind us of young children without parents, parents without their sons and daughters, brothers and sisters torn from their families at the prime of their lives. In a world now filled with derision and hate I cannot accept how we lost our unity after this tragedy and how caring for each other shouldn't be a dream but a destination.

At school I often show my marketing students, who were babies in 2001, the artful commercials — many developed in tribute to those we lost and those who served at the tenth anniversary of 9/11. Commemorative commercials from companies like Verizon, State Farm Insurance and Budweiser. Yet the audio/video that remains in my mind, has me seated way in the back of the church sanctuary, singing the Mi Shebeirach, a melody designed to accompany a Jewish prayer for healing.

We were one under St. Raphael's roof that day and we are one today. May we give a hand, a hug, a nod on September 11 and never forget to stand together in support of each other during good times and bad.

A contributing writer to the Herald since 2012, Lauren Lev is an East Meadow resident and a direct marketing/advertising executive who teaches advertising and marketing communications courses at the Fashion Institute of Technology/SUNY, LIU Post and SUNY Old Westbury.