DENVER — It's an anniversary that offers the chance for all of us to remember the nearly 3,000 people who died in the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"Of course emotions are not as raw," said Sharon Robinson, a former Newark United flight attendant. "Time is the best healer for anything that happens."
Yet, time may never fully heal the wounds, both physical and emotional, for those impacted by the events of 9/11.
"I knew everybody on that flight, so it was really hard," Robinson said.
She worked side-by-side with those who died when United Flight 93 crashed into a Pennsylvania field.
"Shock, horror" and "intense sadness" stuck with her for a while. On each anniversary, she reflects on that day at the 9/11 memorial at Community Park in Broomfield, where the names of her colleagues and all those who died that day are set in bronze.
"We never forget," Robinson said.
These stones can hold only so many memories. It's why Sara Farris with the North Metro Fire Rescue District is creating an online, living memorial: a place where the survivors of the terror attacks can pass down their memories and emotion of that day before they're forgotten.
"People can come, read those stories, see the photos and really reflect on those personal experiences that were tied to this tragic event," Farris said.
For the first time, the 9/11 memorial in Broomfield will also have a tribute wall.
The community "can come by throughout the weekend and leave a note, maybe tie on a flower or a memento."
Those items will then be digitized and archived on the online memorial, where experiences like Robinson's will live forever.
"I think Sept. 11 was really a day of reckoning, of maturity for the United States," Robinson said. "We've never had anything like that happen in the US before. Hopefully we won't again."
Whether cast in bronze, set in stone or posted online, there are those doing their part to make sure the memory doesn't fade.
