Katy Perry is officially ready to talk about the heartbreak that had her crying her way through a world tour — and the surprisingly romantic plot twist that followed.
Perry recently opened up about her 2025 breakup from Orlando Bloom while reflecting on the emotional roller coaster that was her 91-show Lifetimes Tour.
And while the end of her nearly decade-long relationship with Bloom may have been brutal, Perry now insists the experience ultimately led her exactly where she was supposed to be.
Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau attend “Katy Perry: The Lifetimes Tour” Premiere during the 2026 Tribeca Festival at BMCC Theater on June 08, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival)
“I learned how to step back into my purpose,” Perry told People magazine this week while promoting her new concert film, Katy Perry: The Lifetimes Tour – Live From Paris. “And I got the greatest gift from this tour: I got to meet the love of my life.”
Perry and Bloom, who share 6-year-old daughter Daisy Dove, split in June 2025 after nearly a decade together. The timing was particularly rough, as Perry was already on the road for her tour when their relationship came to an end.
“It was probably the hardest time,” she admitted. “My friends were all hanging out back home. I was crying and just feeling far away. But then my angels went to work. They really showed up.”
Apparently, those “angels” had a Canadian political connection.
Perry was first linked to Trudeau after they were spotted together in July 2025. The relationship eventually became official, and the singer now sounds downright convinced that their romance was meant to happen.
In fact, Perry believes she may have manifested the whole thing.
The “Firework” singer explained that she had previously written down a list of 10 wishes for her life. Number 10?
“True Love.”
“No. 10 just says, ‘True Love.’ And I think that’s where we’re at,” Perry said.
Considering the timing, it’s difficult to argue with her manifestation theory.
Perry has previously described 2025 as one of the hardest years of her life. Between the breakup, the pressures of touring, and the criticism surrounding her 143 album, she had plenty of reasons to throw in the towel.
Instead, she kept performing — with Daisy along for portions of the journey — and ultimately emerged from the chaos with a new sense of purpose and a new boyfriend.
And Perry has made it clear that Trudeau isn’t merely some rebound fling following her split from Bloom.
She sees something fundamentally different in their relationship — something she had apparently been hoping to find all along.
“I went through a f–k ton,” Perry previously said of the difficult period. “And there were days that were really, really, really hard.”
But now she has her daughter, her career and the “love of my life.”
Not exactly the worst possible ending to a very messy chapter.
Luke Bryan is setting the record straight about the inspiration behind his buzzed-about new track, “Fish, Hunt, Golf, Drink,” making it clear that while Riley Green didn’t have a hand in writing the song, he did accidentally inspire it.
Back in July, Green appeared on Theo Von’s This Past Weekend podcast, where he addressed his connection to the song after fans began speculating online about how it came together. The track started to evoke a slew of negative comments with some listeners questioning whether AI had been involved in the writing process, which prompted Green to clarify that he had nothing to do with writing or creating the song.
“He gave me credit for him writing that song or he blamed me…one of the two,” Green explained. “He texted me and said that we need to get together. It’d been too long and he said ‘fish, hunt, golf, drink. So I was not there. I didn’t write the song, had nothing to do with the song. I didn’t even send the text. I didn’t even say ‘that’s a cool text,’ or ‘you should write a song.’ I had nothing to do with it.”
Luke Bryan; Photo Via of YouTube
This week, Bryan joined Von’s show as a guest and confirmed Green’s statement. The truth is that Green didn’t write the song. It was actually penned by Bryan with Chase McGill, and Matt Dragstrem.
“Riley got involved because I texted Riley,” Bryan shared. “[He] goes, ‘Hey man, let’s get together.’ I said, ‘Hell yeah.’ I said, ‘Fish, golf, hunt, drink, etc.’ And then we wrote the damn song. Riley didn’t write it…The damn thing got so much negativity that Riley was being funny that he didn’t want to be, ‘Don’t associate me with that.’”
The Georgia native then opened up about the reality of living in the public eye and the constant criticism that has followed him throughout his career. When he first released what has since become one of his biggest hits, “Country Girl (Shake It for Me),” in 2011, Bryan faced backlash from some listeners who felt the song was too scandalous. As his career continued, the criticism shifted to his appearance, with some even commenting that his jeans were too tight.
Over the years, Bryan has learned to accept that there will always be someone with something negative to say and that has only gotten worse with time as social media has continued to evolve.
“Whether you like the song or not, or whether you like me as an artist, whether you like what I’m about or whatever, we’re all learning that, I mean, I can’t do anything. Back when I wore tight jeans, I was the tight jean guy. So you go through all these phases. Well, I don’t wear tight jeans anymore. Now I’m the guy that somebody said that I AI’d a song and wrote it. It’s a fun song, man,” he said, defending the track.
The song arrived as an early look into his upcoming album, Signs. Shortly after it dropped, a few users with a large following shared their opinion that “Fish, Hunt, Golf, Drink” was written using artificial intelligence. That statement ended up spiraling into even more people joining in on the negativity.
“You have to wrap your head around the idea that you’re happy that everybody is being this way because it’s getting more notoriety. But then I’m like, ‘Well, wait, I’m not sure I’m happy about a bunch of teenagers telling a 50-year-old man he’s a piece of s**t songwriter.’ And then I’m like, ‘Dude, you’re 16. You’re talking to a grown man that’s made a s**t ton of money doing this,’” Bryan added.
He then shared that he believes people hear the song and think he follows the lyrics exactly, meaning he wakes up, puts on camo, drinks his coffee and climbs the nearest tree.
“They’re not understanding. So I think they think that I’m out there climbing. I’m bear hugging a pine tree and climbing up.”
At its core, “Fish, Hunt, Golf, Drink” is a playful reflection of Bryan’s real life and the things he genuinely enjoys. As a true country boy at heart, he loves throwing on his camo and heading to the deer stand in the tree to hunt, spending a day fishing, enjoying a few cold drinks and hitting the golf course when he has some downtime. It really is as simple as that.
The question posed to quarterback Dylan Raiola, Oregon’s splashy offseason transfer from Nebraska, during the Ducks’ on-campus media day in early August was fairly simple: “When was the last time you entered a football season not the starter?” a reporter asked. “Uhhhmm,” Raiola replied, dragging out the sound and tilting his head to one side while pondering exactly how he should respond. “I don’t want to — yeah — I don’t think it’s ever happened. It’s something new, but I know change is good. And especially at a place like this, I’m more than willing to sacrifice for the greater good.” The reason Raiola has to sacrifice is because Oregon’s starting quarterback from the 2025 campaign, Dante Moore, shocked many across the college football landscape by turning down the chance to enter the NFL Draft — he was widely projected as a top-10 pick — to stay in school and chase a national championship. Moore announced his decision during a live television appearance on Jan. 14, after which head coach Dan Lanning stormed into the room and jumped on a desk in celebration. Raiola had committed to Oregon via the transfer portal two days earlier, uncertain in that moment what Moore’s final decision would be. Still, Raiola and his family were keenly aware that the scenario Oregon now faces — with Moore as the unquestioned starter entering Saturday’s opener against Boise State and Raiola poised to spend the season in a backup role — was well within the realm of possibility. Part of what made Raiola’s camp feel comfortable with that arrangement was seeing how much Moore benefited from a similar set of circumstances two years ago when he joined the Ducks after spending his freshman season at UCLA. Now, Moore is a bonafide Heisman Trophy candidate this fall and will almost certainly become a first-round pick in next spring’s NFL Draft. “I think everybody wants everything now,” Raiola said during that same interview. “You asked the question about when’s the last time I haven’t started. I processed that over the last six months that I’ve had [at Oregon], and I just think that when everything is thrown at you and you’re always in the microscope, you can kind of lose sight of the process and the journey and enjoying it. So to be able to sit back and watch and learn from a guy that does it at a high level [is awesome].” The similarities between their respective journeys run deep. Moore was a five-star prospect from Detroit who peaked as the No. 2 overall recruit in the 2023 cycle. He earned scholarship offers from seemingly every blue-blood program in the country — including one from former Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh when Moore was still in seventh grade — and originally committed to Oregon in the summer before his senior year of high school. Moore eventually decommitted from the Ducks on Dec. 19, 2022, and signed with UCLA two days later, stunning the college football world and giving then-Bruins head coach Chip Kelly a trajectory-changing quarterback. Raiola, meanwhile, spent more than a calendar year as the top overall prospect in the 2024 class before finishing at No. 21 overall and the No. 3 signal-caller behind current Ohio State starter Julian Sayin and current Baylor starter DJ Lagway. He spent chunks of his recruitment committed to Ohio State (seven months) and Georgia (seven months) before making a stunning flip to Nebraska, which is his father’s alma mater. In that moment, he became the second highest-rated high school prospect to ever sign with the Cornhuskers in the recruiting rankings era. “I challenged him,” Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule said during his signing day news conference in December 2023, “like ‘Hey, make sure you’re serious about this. I don’t want this to be something that isn’t right for you.’ And he said, ‘My life has greater purpose than just being the top recruit. I know what Nebraska means to my family, I know what it has meant to me and I’d like to come there.’ “I think in the end, to have a player of Dylan’s caliber — not of his recruiting, but of his caliber — his arm talent, his ability to see the field, but probably more than anything, his work ethic and how much he cares about the game, we obviously took that.” From the moment that both players set foot on college campuses, their respective paths toward seeing the field as true freshmen came into focus. Moore split time with fellow quarterback Ethan Garbers during UCLA’s season opener and then started five consecutive games for a team that ultimately finished 8-5 overall. Individually, though, Moore’s performance was relatively uneven: three games with multiple touchdown passes offset by three games with multiple interceptions; four games with at least 234 passing yards undercut by two games with a completion rate below 43%. He entered the transfer portal less than a week removed from the Bruins’ regular season finale. But at Oregon, where Moore spent the 2024 season learning behind first-team All-American and eventual third-round pick Dillon Gabriel, his reset doubled as a rebirth. A year to steady himself without much on-field pressure ignited Moore’s growth rate under then-offensive coordinator Will Stein, now the head coach at Kentucky. When Moore finally assumed the starting role last fall, he went on to throw for 3,565 yards with 30 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and the fourth-best completion percentage (71.8%) in the country. “It helped me out a lot being able to sit one year,” Moore told me at Big Ten Media Days in July. “You get to learn so much. All your practice reps, you get to just learn from a vet and ask all the questions you could ask. And then if the person in front of you makes mistakes, you just learn from it. It’s like you’re the little brother. It’s like the big brother goes up there and does something stupid, you learn from it and you’re like, ‘OK, I don’t do that.’ So it’s just that type of relationship that we have, and it’s huge — especially in this generation.” Raiola spent nearly two full seasons as Nebraska’s starter before suffering a broken ankle last November that effectively ended his Cornhusker career. His numbers across 22 appearances during the 2024 and 2025 campaigns — nearly 5,000 total yards with 31 touchdowns and a 69.1% completion rate — were significantly more prolific than what Moore had produced in his lone season with the Bruins. Raiola’s on-field production for two teams that reached bowl games — a legitimate achievement for a downtrodden program like Nebraska — signaled to coaches across the country that there was still plenty of talent to be molded from the rough clay. One of the primary challenges for new Oregon offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer will be coaching away Raiola’s ball-security issues in the wake of 17 interceptions and 12 fumbles over the previous two seasons combined. Thus far, Raiola believes he’s making good on his pledge to do everything he can to help the Ducks in a supporting role. He capitalized on extra walkthroughs and meetings during the summer to shore up what he described as a “shaky” spring season. He’s worked diligently to reshape his body by eating healthier and dropping weight in response to a winter full of injury rehab that limited his ability to train. He described his current physical condition as “probably the best I’ve ever felt,” while Moore said he’s noticed an uptick in Raiola’s running speed — something that delighted the protégé. But there is plenty of work still to be done. And if all goes well — if Moore stays healthy and has the Heisman Trophy-caliber season many around the country are expecting — then the majority of Raiola’s progress will happen behind closed doors while this year’s team chases a national championship. Just the way he and the Ducks planned it. “My job is to push the room, push the team and help support Dante achieve his goal,” Raiola said at Oregon’s media day. “Because I know in the long run, that’s my goal [too]. So if we can get him there, and [then] I can get myself there, it would be accomplished for sure.”Latest Sports News from FOX Sports
Black privacy fencing shrouds the Carlisle Barracks Post Cemetery on Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, as officials prepare for the disinterment and repatriation of the remains of 12 students who died while attending the notorious Carlisle Indian Industrial School more than 100 years ago. The repatriations are scheduled to run from Sept. 1 to Oct. 12, 2026. (Photo by Charles Fox/Special to ICT)
WARNING: This story contains disturbing details about boarding schools. If you are feeling triggered, here isa resource listfrom the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition.
CARLISLE, Pennsylvania — The Carlisle Barracks Post Cemetery is once again solemnly shrouded with black privacy fencing as families and tribal leaders gather to reunite with ancestors who died while attending the Carlisle Indian Industrial School.
Disinterments are set to begin Tuesday, Sept. 1, of the first of 12 students who will be returned to their homelands over the next six weeks as part of the Office of Army Cemetery’s annual repatriation of remains of children who died at the school.
Among the first to go home will be three students from the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes, who arrived at Carlisle together on April 15, 1890. They all died of tuberculosis over the the next few years.
Descendents and tribal leaders gathered at Carlisle on Monday, Aug. 31, to help them begin their journey home. A celebration is planned for their arrival in Montana.
“The community becomes the family,” Dyan Youpee, the tribe’s cultural preservation director, told the Fort Peck Journal, referring to a phrase that is at the heart of the planned celebration welcoming the children home.
Christine Redstone was one of three students from the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribe who died while attending the notorious Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania. The remains of Redstone and two other students, Peter Howe and Richard Morgan, were set to be disinterred beginning on Sept. 1, 2026, and repatriated to their homelands in eastern Montana. (Photo by Charles Fox/Special to ICT)
Youpee told ICT the event is designed to “shed positive, healing light on the repatriation efforts, journey and reburial.”
The repatriation experience can be a wrenching emotional journey for descendants and tribal leaders, as they retrace the footsteps of ancestors who never have made it back to their families, paired with the triumph of finally bringing them home.
For the Office of Army Cemeteries, which oversees the Carlisle cemetery along with other Army facilities, this will be the ninth round of disinterments, with forensic archaeological and anthropological experts from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Since the repatriations began in 2017, the remains of 58 students have been returned home, leaving numerous gaps among the headstones in the cemetery. Of the 138 graves that remain, the burial sites of 22 children are designated as unknown, with the identities lost to human error when the cemetery moved in 1927.
“The Office of Army Cemeteries team is inspired by the strength and courage from the Native American and Alaska Native Tribes as they make this journey to bring their children home,” Renea Yates, director of the Office of Army Cemeteries, stated in a press release.
“Navigating the disinterment and return process requires the highest level of professional care and compassion and we are committed to providing the expert assistance needed to return their loved ones to their families and communities,” Yates said.
The Army reimburses families for their travel to participate in the disinterment process, the transfer ceremony that follows, and the cost of transport and reburial of the children. After the transfer of custody, families and tribes are free to rebury these children to a location of their choice.
Government assimilation
The students, who ranged in age from 11 to 18, also include four Alaskan Native students, and a student each from the Comanche Nation, Absentee Shawnee Tribe, Shoshone Paiute Tribes, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community.
Most of them died from tuberculosis, although the cause of death was not listed for several of the students in school records.
The barracks housed the Carlisle school from 1879-1918, where nearly 8,000 students from more than 140 tribes attended as part of a government assimilation program that separated them from their families, language and culture. It was the first federally funded, off-reservation Indian boarding school in the U.S., and it served as a model for boarding schools across the U.S. and Canada.
Alaskan Native students Lucy Spaulding (shown as Spalding on the gravestone) and Mabel Stack (shown as Stock) died while attending the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania more than 100 years ago. Their remains are set to be repatriated back to southeastern Alaska in September 2026. ( Photo by Charles Fox/Special to ICT)
The research of the Alaska Native Heritage Center, known as ANHC, has been instrumental in bringing home the four Alaskan Native students scheduled for disinterment.
“When we do research aimed at bringing home our children, we hope to bring healing to our communities affected by the era of assimilation and its continuing effects,” Benjamin Jacuk, director of Indigenous Research and Healing at ANHC, recently told ICT. “Our work is to bring home the children above all else… Because at the end of the day these children are worth that hard work and that trust.”
The Carlisle Barracks Post Cemetery has been closed to visitors since Aug. 14, and access to the cemetery, enclosed in privacy fencing, will be restricted to federal staff along with tribal members and their families until the completion of the scheduled disinterments, tentatively set for Oct. 12.
Homecoming preparations
At Fort Peck in eastern Montana, organizers are optimistic the event will bring out a large welcoming crowd.
On July 31, Youpee and others did a non-stop 89-mile Awareness Walk from one end of the reservation to the other to make sure everyone was aware of the upcoming event. Organizers have encouraged people to arrive wearing orange shirts to acknowledge boarding school survivors or traditional regalia, and to create an escort of horseback riders and a caravan of cars to welcome the children home as they reach the reservation border.
More than 135 years after the children left their homelands, the homecoming is an attempt to show love and recognition to the three students.
Organizers want to ensure they are not forgotten or reduced to names on school records, in hopes the community comes together to make sure that no child comes home alone.
COMING HOME
The remains of 12 students who died at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School are set to be disinterred starting Sept. 1 through Oct. 12. The students include four Alaskan Natives, three from the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes, and students from five other tribes across the U.S.
Alaskan Natives
*Mabel Stack arrived on Oct. 24, 1903, at age 11, and died Aug. 14, 1904, of tuberculosis. Her last name is listed as Stock on the gravestone and Stack in the Carlisle records, but Booth is believed to be her correct last name. *Edward Angalook, who is listed as Angelook on his gravestone, arrived Nov. 23, 1903, at age 18, and died Sept. 24, 1905 of tuberculosis. *Lucy Spaulding arrived Oct. 24, 1903, at age 14, and died March 25, 1905, of tuberculosis. She is listed as Spalding on her gravestone, although her correct last name is believed to be Guthrie.
*Tummassak arrived on Nov. 14, 1897, at age 12, and died on April 8, 1900, of tuberculosis. She is listed as Tomicock on her gravestone and also as Tomiclock in Carlisle archives.
Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribe *Peter Howe arrived at the school on April 15, 1890, at age 16, and died six years later on June 5, 1896, of tuberculosis. *Richard Morgan arrived April 15, 1890, at age 17, and died March 25, 1891, of tuberculosis. *Christine Redstone arrived April 15, 1890, at age 15, and died July 19, 1899, of tuberculosis.
Comanche Nation
*Frances Bones arrived on Nov. 8, 1894, at age 14, and died on May 7, 1895. Her cause of death was not listed in Carlisle records.
Absentee Shawnee Tribe *Fannie Gibson arrived on Dec. 24, 1899, at age 17, and died on Dec. 6, 1900, of tuberculosis.
Shoshone Paiute Tribes *Della Atkins arrived on Dec. 13, 1900, at age 17, and died 12 days later on Dec. 25, 1900. Her death was attributed to a brain tumor.
Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians *Susie King arrived at the school on Oct. 25, 1890, at age 16, and died Oct. 21, 1891. Her cause of death was not listed.
Keweenaw Bay Indian Community *Margaret Davis arrived at the school on Sept. 15, 1889, at age 14, and died Dec. 21, 1892, of tuberculosis.
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Those charges include aggravated child molestation, aggravated sodomy, aggravated sexual battery, three counts of aggravated sexual battery against a child under 16, and false imprisonment.
TV Personality Kim Zolciak hosts the Kentucky Derby hat contest at Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway on May 6, 2017 in Yonkers, New York. (Photo by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway)
The charges stem from an alleged April incident at a Life Time fitness center in Alpharetta, Georgia.
KJ, 15, was arrested on August 17 and has remained in juvenile detention while the case moves forward. He has denied the allegations against him.
His attorney, Jason B. Sheffield, previously asked a judge to release the teenager on bond, arguing that KJ is a good student and athlete with strong ties to his community.
According to court documents, Sheffield described his client as a high school student in good standing who has demonstrated strong academic achievement. KJ has also reportedly received athletic scholarships.
The attorney argued that KJ does not pose a flight risk or a danger to the alleged victim or other witnesses.
The defense has also pointed to KJ’s alleged cooperation with investigators and claimed that he passed a polygraph examination.
Their relationship has been anything but peaceful in the years since, with the former couple repeatedly clashing over finances, their children, and other personal matters.
Now, their eldest son’s legal situation has added another devastating complication.
For the time being, KJ remains in custody as the criminal case proceeds.
And with a grand jury indictment now officially on the books, this situation is clearly nowhere near over.
‘No Day Shall Erase You From the Memory of Time,’ a phrase written by the Roman poet Virgil, is displayed on a wall at the 9/11 Memorial Museum. Spencer Platt/Getty Images
For much of the past 25 years, each anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks has arrived with signs and stickers reminding people to “never forget.”
I have always felt unsure about what those words mean. For those of us who were alive in 2001, forgetting the day itself is almost impossible.
My college students have no such memories or feelings. Most were born years after Sept. 11, 2001.
They encounter what happened through photographs, documentaries, memorials, classroom lessons and stories told by people who were alive on that day. The National September 11 Memorial & Museum estimates that about 100 million Americans have been born since the attacks.
In my work as a professor of politics and public affairs, I pay close attention to the stories Americans tell about their past and the ways those stories shape civic identity in the present. The 25th anniversary of 9/11 is especially interesting to me because it marks a moment when an event once experienced as immediate and world-changing is increasingly being carried forward through memory, ritual and interpretation.
Firefighter Gerard McGibbon prays after the World Trade Center buildings collapsed Sept. 11, 2001, killing some 3,000 people. Mario Tama/Getty Images
Understanding history includes forgetting
Scholars of collective memory, also called public memory, have long argued that societies do not remember the past simply by preserving it.
Forgetting is part of the process, too. As memory scholar Paul Connerton has argued, some forms of forgetting are not failures but necessary parts of social life.
No individual, school or nation can keep everything equally present forever. History accumulates faster than collective memory can accommodate it. The question, then, is not whether Americans will forget parts of 9/11. They will. The more interesting question is what remains after that forgetting takes place.
I understand those points of view. Some of what I most want preserved about Sept. 11 is the shared grief of those first days and the ways ordinary people revealed their humanity under unimaginable circumstances.
Firefighters climbed stairs and ran toward mortal danger, while a cascade of people tried as hard as they could to get down. Office workers helped colleagues and strangers. Families searched for missing loved ones long after hope had become terribly thin. And passengers on United Flight 93 fought back and forced the plane they were on to crash in a field in the middle of Philadelphia, sacrificing themselves in the hopes of saving others.
Before 9/11 became a justification, a policy, a war or a political symbol, it was an experience of shared human vulnerability.
Politics and its consequences
No event remains sealed inside its original meaning. Sept. 11 became the starting point for a series of political choices that reshaped American life and, in turn, reshaped the memory of the day itself.
The attacks led to the war in Afghanistan, which lasted for 20 years after the invasion’s initial success in dismantling al-Qaida and removing the Taliban government.
For others, the day – and its aftermath – represent restored American pride and military perseverance.
For still others, 9/11 remains most powerfully a story about innocent lives lost and ordinary people behaving with extraordinary courage.
Each way of remembering draws a boundary around the terrorism the nation experienced, deciding how far beyond that September morning its meaning should extend.
Sept. 11 has not become unimportant because those things happened. Its place in the story has changed because life – because the world – kept going.
For people who were alive during the attacks, there is something sad about watching that distance and diminishment happen. When an event once remembered in minute detail becomes a date others know only from history, the passage of one’s own life becomes newly visible. There is a strange nostalgia in realizing that something once so immediate now belongs increasingly to people who know it only as the past.
A week after the 9/11 attacks, the front page of USA Today runs a quote from President George W Bush – ‘The hour is coming’ – a message of imminent reprisals against al-Qaida. Richard Baker/In Pictures via Getty Images Images
What are we to remember?
Maybe this is why “never forget” feels both moving and impossible.
What is supposed to be the subject of our remembering? The people who died? The courage? The grief? The fear? The wars that followed? The mistakes? The unexpected decency of people thrown together on an unbearable day?
A society cannot keep all of those things equally vivid forever. Nor should its members confuse remembering everything with understanding anything. The task of collective memory is inevitably one of selection.
For me, one part of the memory seems especially important to preserve. Before Sept. 11 became an argument about war, security, patriotism or political allegiance, it was an encounter with human vulnerability and then human resilience. The solidarity of Sept. 11 and the political choices made in its aftermath were not the same thing, even if they have become intertwined in our memory of the period.
If the ongoing march of history means Sept. 11 cannot always carry the emotional weight it does for people who were alive when it happened, perhaps the best outcome would be to focus on the collective grief, along with the extraordinary human response that grief engendered.
Doing so would not erase any of what followed. But it might help preserve the understanding that the day was one of imaginable horror and tragedy before it became a political inheritance.
Stephanie A. (Sam) Martin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
If you’re like us and you love a good thrifting experience, you might also enjoy finding hidden kitchen surprises at the store, but you should avoid these.
