It’s hard for me to believe 20 years have gone by.
September 11 is a date that I can live without.
I avoid reading or watching anything about 9/11.
It’s not that I don’t want to remember the lives lost, the sacrifices made, the true heroism of first responders running towards buildings that thousands of people were running away from.
It’s not that I don’t want to remember the decades-long sacrifices our military members gave through a war that started shortly after the attack.
It’s just those planes crashing into Tower 1 and Tower 2, left a not-so-good imprint on my mind.
For me, it’s an indelible mark that can’t truly be forgotten.
Now though, on this anniversary, I’m tasked with one more story, one more time to watch the video and remember.
The good that came for me that day, was learning a friend of mine, whose mother worked on the 67th floor of Tower 2, by the Grace of God, made it down a mountain of stairs, to safety.
She says today, unless you lived it, unless you were there in the financial district of New York, seeing the planes, not seeing but feeling the towers come down, you just won’t ever truly understand what it was like.
I believe her.
I also know the patriotism shown after that, by the New Yorkers and across the Country, did make you proud to be an American.
Now two decades later, where really do we stand?
For this next generation, I pray they never have to watch another attack, never have to know people jumped to their deaths rather than stay in the buildings.
What I do want the next generation to think about, is when the time comes, are you ready to say “Let’s Roll?" To act not for yourself, but for others.
And while this anniversary will come and go, I will remember, I will pray, and I will not forget.
