I realize in this busy world people have short attention spans and their short-term memories are not all that good.

What was I talking about again? Oh yeah, attention spans.

Anyhow, I bring this up because today is Sept. 11, which may or may not mean anything to you anymore. It's been eight years since terrorists flew passenger jets into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, into the Pentagon and into a field near Shanksville, Pa.

We were talking it over here in the newsroom (sorry, boss, I mean media center) and the consensus was that there just are not as many commemorations as in the past. Fewer organizations, fewer people are marking the event.

And it's not just us who have made this observation.

"Every year it dwindles off, a little more each year," said Ronald Badyniak, of Calumet City, the diocesan assistant membership chairman of the Illinois State Council of the Knights of Columbus. "I know when we spoke to some people, it just didn't seem that important anymore."

The K of C is sponsoring a Blue Mass honoring police, firefighters and Emergency Services and Disaster Agency workers at 8 a.m. today at St. Andrew Church in Calumet City.

"The way I look at it, we are going to have it every year as long as I am alive," said Badyniak, 67. I am hopeful has many years ahead of him.

One of the most important parts of the Mass, Badyniak said, will be that children from Christ Our Savior Catholic School will attend. "The schoolchildren will take part, some of whom weren't even born yet when Sept. 11 happened," he said. "It's important that they learn now what this means to our country."

Rick Ryfa, president of Griffith Town Council, said his community is rededicating a Sherman tank that has sat in Central Park for years and was recently refurbished.

He said he felt Sept. 11 was an appropriate date for the rededication, which is to honor all military service personnel.

And he agreed that although he feels sentiment remains strong in Griffith, he has seen a slow but steady nationwide decrease in interest in commemorating Sept. 11.

"You don't even see it anymore," he said. "You turn on a TV and maybe you see a 30-second blurb and that's it. Hopefully, we don't become a country that becomes so complacent that we become susceptible to (a terrorist attack) again. It's important that we as a nation remain vigilant."

I know we just left Labor Day behind, but making Sept. 11 a national holiday instead of the quasi-official and poorly named Patriot Day might keep the idea of what happened eight years ago alive in the memory of Americans.

It might. Or it might not. Do you even remember what you did on Labor Day?

The opinions are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at markk@nwitimes.com or (219) 933-4170.