In 1922 T. S. Eliot’s famous work “The Waste Land” was first published. This poem was written after the First World War when Europe was a crumbling mess. He opens the poem by stating that the cruelest month is April. The month of April begins a new cycle, a cycle of sadness and hurt.

This humble author disagrees. To me, the cruelest month is that of September. This is the month of sorrowful and sad memories for me.

In September 1954, my younger brother contracted the dreaded disease polio. This was several months before the Salk vaccine for polio was licensed for use in April 1955. He was left a paraplegic, confined to a wheelchair until his death.

Although my brother could not live a normal life, he was able to find work, to marry and to see a daughter being born before his untimely death in September 1990. Another sad and sorrowful September to my parents, youngest sibling and me.

We all remember where we were and what we were doing on Sept. 11, 2001. I was a state legislator and was in my office in Jefferson City preparing for that day’s session when I learned from a colleague that an airplane had struck a tower at the World Trade Center.

Later news accounts reported that 19 terrorists had taken control or attempted to take control of four passenger airplanes.

Two of the planes had hit the World Trade Center and a third one, the Pentagon. The fourth plane crashed in a empty field due to the heroic efforts of passengers.

Nearly 3,000 individuals from 93 different countries perished. It was the worst attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor in December 1941.

Yes, I find September to be the cruelest month. We shall never know what contribution to mankind some of the untimely dead would have given. Or, perhaps a child or children who never will be born would have given. As a cancer survivor, I wonder if one of the deceased or an unborn child could have found the cure for cancer.

We must never forget the attack that September and the thousands who perished. We must remember all those who died that day and those who did everything possible to save them.

Yes, I find September to be the cruelest month. I suspect there are readers who would agree with me.