By Meghan Fitzpatrick, Hospice & Palliative Care Representative
Old Colony Hospice & Palliative Care
September 11th was on my mind for obvious reasons this past month.
It was my first experience with national tragedy, and it changed the shape of our country in ways we’re still reckoning with.
But honestly, the day I’ve been thinking about even more is September 12th.
For one beautiful day, everyone in the United States seemed just a little bit kinder. We felt, in our bones, a kinship that couldn’t be broken by politics, race, religion, or any of the other things that so often cloud our relationships.
September 11th, 2001, was my first day of sophomore year. I went to a small school, and every year our principal would gather all 350 of us for a start-of-year talk. That year, she had the impossible burden of telling a room full of adolescents that it appeared two planes had intentionally flown into the Twin Towers.
I’m lucky, I suppose, that she also reminded us of something deeper: that this was America. That we had survived two world wars, four presidential assassinations, and an actual civil war. This act of violence and cowardice, she said, would not break us.
Of course, I didn’t believe her. I was 13. It felt like the world was ending.
But then it didn’t.
After a strange, terrifying, and horrible day, the sun still came up in the morning.
I’ll always be grateful to my principal for planting that seed in my head: This will not break us.
I think that’s why, even at a young age, I noticed the dignity, solidarity, and kindness that shone through the nation on September 12th. The trauma we had endured seemed to bring out the very best in us. Of course, the world moved on, and people are people, but that feeling never left me.
Grief is brutal.
It hurts. It’s heavy. It’s exhausting.
But it doesn’t have to be a bad thing.
Loss, whether as collective as 9/11 or as personal as losing someone you love, shakes our sense of safety. It’s awful. But seen through the right lens, it can also be clarifying. It can remind us of what truly matters. It can put everything else into perspective.
Losing a parent can teach us to cherish the one we have left.
Helping a friend through the loss of a sibling can make us grateful for our own.
Even the very thing we grieve often becomes, in memory, more vivid and meaningful.
Like so much in life, grief is painful, but it is also a gift.
We cannot grieve what we do not love.
And who among us wouldn’t benefit from remembering just how much love we have in our lives?
About the Author: Meghan Fitzpatrick is a business development representatives at Old Colony Hospice & Palliative Care. She has a strong background in assisted living and dementia care. She is also a trained support group facilitator for the Alzheimer’s Association. Her compassion and knowledge make her a vital part of Old Colony Hospice’s outreach efforts. She is a trusted resource in the community, connecting with families, providers, and community partners throughout the region and can be reached at mfitzpatrick@oldcolonyhospice.com.
