Remembering 9/11
Every year I post this online. As time has past, the feelings and memories seem to fade, but when I re-read this, they all come flooding back
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© 2025 Chris Eliopoulos
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Thanks, Sean. We've had very subdued anniversaries ever since. Usually, we'll go to dinner another night, but yeah, it's hard to celebrate something when others are reminded of the worst day of their lives.
Thank you for sharing this comic. I apologize as I struggle to find words to express just how many ways this cartoon resonated with me, but am always impressed when art can speak so directly to the soul. As you said, reading it immediately transported me back to that tragic day. The fear, the pain, the horror and shear numbness of it all rang through in your panels. Hearing of your anniversary made me think of how when my wife was expecting our first son and the due date was supposed to be 9-11-2011, we selfishly hoped he would come any other day. It was as if something as beautiful as the birth of a child would somehow take away from the solemnity of the day; for how could this date ever be thought of as anything other than tragic? How could we look forward to it year after year, hoping to celebrate another birthday, when so many other families would be dreading the reminder of the horrific day their worlds turned upside down? While we got our wish, and my Chris was born 9-12-2011, there are many others, including you and your wife, who straddle what must be a spectrum of feelings, wanting to celebrate something joyous while never forgetting the lives lost and the families destroyed. As I sit here remembering the events of 9/11, I just want to thank you again for sharing this comic, and for the honesty and vulnerability you put into it. Happy Anniversary to you, and God bless all those for whom this day might mean something so very different.