Sept. 11 changed us in immeasurable ways, but perhaps in ways that are hard to recognize even now.

For many of us, the raw emotion of the terrorist attacks that day has ebbed. While it is certainly a day that will live in our collective conscious and our individual memories for generations, we don’t recognize from day to day that we are still living its effects.

But that is America: a young nation always moving forward, changing trends and tastes on a moment’s notice.

Still, the ways in which our lives have changed are subtle but remarkable, whether it is in the calm acceptance of minor inconveniences or the embracing of symbols of patriotism.

When the lights went out over New York several weeks ago, residents there recovered from the initial shock that it might be a terrorist attack to simply live those few days in relative calm. The America of Sept. 10, 2001, might have reacted quite differently.

Young men and women went to war after Sept. 11, some simply joining up because of the attack. Many remain overseas, whether in Afghanistan or Iraq, fighting the war on terrorism, and flags and yellow ribbons decorate their loved ones’ homes.

As we accept these major and minor changes in our daily lives, it is easy to become again complacent about what &uot;normal&uot; is. That is perhaps the only danger in our reaction to Sept. 11: the chance that we will be caught unaware again.

But even as we move on, with the images of

Sept. 11 a fading memory, we cannot imagine forgetting its impact. That vigilance &045; and our resilience &045; will see us through this transition to the new normalcy.