The Wound Is Far From Healed

I’ve written previously in this space about the morning of September 11, 2001 and each and every word still holds true: I still ache at the memory of that clear Tuesday morning. I largely forget about the raw emotions for most of the year, but when the tributes, interviews and analyses start flowing forth from every conceivable media orifice, I can’t hold back my feelings.
The dread is mostly gone, but the cold fury remains, as do the tears – tears of sadness for those lost, tears of joy mixed with sorrow at the tales of heroism and the heroes that died that day. Such a catastrophe brought out the best in New Yorkers – no mean feat, that. September 11^th showed that in the most impersonal and cynical city in America, everyday heroes still flourish. Day by day, EMTs, police officers, firemen, and first responders go quietly about their duties, never seeking praise from those of us cowardly enough to forget their everyday sacrifices. We conveniently forget that their sacrifices allow the rest of us the opportunity to even affect cycnicism. Do what you can to change that, won’t you?
As for me, I intend on observing the rest of today in “quiet, contemplative mode”, although I intend on updating this post with the various and sundry 9/11 tributes that I come across.
UPDATE:
National Review is hosting a 9/11 symposium which includes the following from James Lileks:

If 9/11 had really changed us, there’d be a 150-story building on the site of the World Trade Center today. It would have a classical memorial in the plaza with allegorical figures representing Sorrow and Resolve, and a fountain watched over by stern stone eagles. Instead there’s a pit, and arguments over the usual muted dolorous abstraction approved by the National Association of Grief Counselors. The Empire State Building took 18 months to build. During the Depression. We could do that again, but we don’t. And we don’t seem interested in asking why.

Wizbang is rounding up 9/11 tribute links, as is LaShawn Barber. PhillyFuture has links to Philly-area bloggers memorializing the day. Wired calls 9/11 the Birth of the Blog while Instapundit and Gerard Van der Leun have posted their notes from that awful day. Michael Ledeen is still angry after 5 years, while Ed Cone is still sad. Kenneth Anderson muses on how it affected his daughter. OpFor notes another 9/11 – 9/11/1565, when the Knights of St. John defeated the Turks at Malta. Steven Den Beste notes that post-9/11 we still aren’t united and probably never were, while Eric at Is That Legal? asks readers to recall what stands out in their memories of 9/11. Little Green Footballs carries a memorable poem inspired by the day called Photograph from September 11. Lileks offers a video splice job commemorating his views on the events.
UPDATE 2:
Jeff Goldstein marks 9/11/01 as the date of his political awakening.