9/11: a distant memory?

-photo by Gayle Oshrin

I was listening to NPR this morning and they were talking about 9/11. The reporters were describing it as a distant memory. Something people read about in books and online. A period of time in history. A provocation of war similar to Pearl Harbor. 

I mean, I get it. 22 years is a long time ago. A generation. But yet, I remember almost every moment of that day. Vividly. I remember the days, weeks, months afterwards. I remember my life at that time as if it was yesterday. I remember the impact on all of our lives. How then? How can it be a distant memory? And what does that mean about my life now that I can look back 22 years and feel like I am simply blinking my eyes? 

In 2020, I wrote an account of that day. I had written about 9/11 before but not in that type of way. I think about it now and realize I wrote that piece three years ago. I feel like I JUST wrote about it. I attribute some of this to the covid zone when two years of our collective lives meshed into one. Somehow we lost a year or two. A shift in the passage or marking of time somehow. That said, it was therapeutic to write some of it down. There's more. Of course there is more. There always is. But it is a story, one of many, and I am glad it is down on paper. Virtual paper, that is. 

22 years later. How different we are as a country, as a planet, as communities of the world. I am not sure there is an area of life and this earth that hasn't been touched in some way, shape or form. When I sit back and think about that, I feel the passage of time more slowly. 

Where are we now? That is a big question with many answers, all of them correct because it is not only based on data and analysis but also based on perception and our own experiences.

Some time ago, I was explaining something that had happened to a therapist. I was truly upset with how I had handled a situation. This wasn't a trivial mistake. It was complex and I had handled it incorrectly. All wrong. I was feeling badly about myself. The therapist said something that has stuck with me, many years later. He said you know did the best you could at the time. You didn't set out to handle something badly or to do "the wrong thing". You were handling something new and you did what you thought was the best thing at the time. I do believe that to be true and that makes me feel better sometimes. 

So we are in the year 2023. We have collectively never shared this earth, in this form before. We are all experiencing 2023 together for the first time. We are all doing the best we can. And I do think that may be true in how we handle our individual lives but I do question if that is true as a community, a world and as citizens of the earth. 

Are we doing the best we can? Can we do better? I don't want 9/11 to be a distant memory. I don't want Roe v. Wade to be a distant memory. I don't want Columbine to be a distant memory. I don't want the Civil Rights movement to be a distant memory. I don't want the Holocaust or the Armenian Genocide to be a distant memory. I don't want January 6, 2021 to be a distant memory. I don't want polar bears to become a distant memory. Can we do better? I believe we can. Can I do better? Yes, I absolutely can. 

Put on Sedona by Houndmouth and let's get cooking. 

Sedona - Apple Music

Sedona - Spotify

Nancy's Chopped Salad  - Smitten Kitchen

Oregano Dressing
4 cloves garlic
1-2T dried oregano
2 tsp kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
2T lemon juice or juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil, ideally EVOO

Salad and Assembly
1 (15-oz) can chickpeas or 1 3/4 cups cooked chickpeas, drained
1 small red onion, peeled and sliced into paper-thin rings
1/2 lb. provolone, sliced 1/8 inch thick then cut into 1/4 inch ribbons (they prefer an aged, hard provolone but I couldn't find at my store. I used regular and cut into 1/2 inch slices)
4 medium or 8 small pickled pepperoncini, sliced into rings
3/4 lb. cherry tomatoes
Sea salt
1 head iceburg lettuce, halved, cored, and cut into 1/2 inch ribbons
1 head radicchio, halved, cored, and cut into 1/4 inch ribbons (I used one bag of lettuce including radicchio and a head of romaine lettuce)
2 tsp dried oregano for garnish.

Make dressing: Roughly chop garlic (I minced) and then add oregano, salt, and up to 1/2 tsp ground pepper.  Chop the mixture together and use the side of a knife or a mortar and pestle to make a grainy herb paste. Transfer to a bowl and add lemon juice and vinegar. Mix with a fork to allow the salt to dissolve and whisk with a fork until well combined. The dressing should be thick with garlic and oregano. If you are using a small head of iceberg, transfer 1/3 of the dressing into a small bowl to be used if needed.  For more lettuce, use all. (I simply made the dressing by mixing all the ingredients together. It was very tasty but like the idea of making a paste)

Assemble salad: Gently fold the chickpeas, red onion, provolone, salami, pepperoncini (including seeds and juice) into the dressing, one at a time. Halve the tomatoes lengthwise and season with 1 1/2 tsp sea salt. Set aside until ready to serve.

To serve: When ready to serve, gently add the tomatoes, lettuce and radicchio to the salad bowl, along with a couple of generous pinches of oregano and toss to combine with dressing.  Adjust seasonings to taste, adding any reserved dressing, if needed. Serve immediately. (I assembled mine differently but it still looked pretty and tasted yumilicious!)

Enjoy!

Choose kindness. Every gesture counts. Peace and love always. 

-Amy