“Never forget” comes around once a year, on September 11th. What have those two words become?

They used to spark some camaraderie amongst Americans.

They used to take us back to a time when we were united.

They used to remind us of a time an outside force tried to destroy us by killing 3,000 Americans.

On September 11, 2001, I was nursing my one-month-old son in front the of the television in Bennett, CO. My son is twenty now. Twenty years have passed since I saw that second plane hit the World Trade Center.

Twenty years have passed….and we are more divided. We are more terrorized. We are more…less American.

More less American? Pause and think about what that means.

• Left vs. Right.
• Masked vs. Non-masked.
• Vaccinated vs. Non-vaccinated.
• Mandate vs. Laws.
• Less freedom, less choice.

We have forgotten what makes America the greatest country in the world: The U.S. Constitution.

We have forgotten why millions want to come — risking their lives to get here.

We have forgotten the quiet civil disobedience of Rosa Parks who defied a bus driver’s order to vacate her seat for a white passenger.

We have made “Never Forget” lip service that rings empty.

I will never say “Never Forget” again. 

I will work to make “Never Forget” words of action.

Choose freedom.

Guest column submitted by New Mexico resident Corrine Rios