September 11th: 25 Years Later... It Still Feels Like Yesterday... The Memories Have Not Faded
Twenty-five years have passed since that horrific day on September 11, 2001.
A quarter of a century.
And somehow, that is still hard for me to comprehend.
Because when September 11th comes around each year, it doesn’t feel like something that happened a quarter of a century ago.
I still remember that day with a clarity that surprises me. It still feels like yesterday to me.
I remember the disbelief of watching the planes hit the Twin Towers. I remember trying to process what I was seeing and not being able to. I remember the fear of not being able to reach friends and family by phone, especially those who worked in or near the World Trade Center. I remember wondering what was happening, what might happen next, and whether the people I cared about were safe.
And I remember something else very clearly.
For much of that day, I wasn’t particularly emotional. I think I was simply in shock. I watched. I listened. I tried to reach people. I tried to understand something that seemed impossible to understand.
Then, sometime in the early evening, the shock seemed to give way—and the tears just started flowing.
All these years later, September 11th affects me even more emotionally than I think it did that day. Maybe that’s because the shock has long since worn off, while the sadness never really has. And the tears still come, even today.
We somehow knew on September 11, 2001 that our lives had changed. What we couldn’t possibly have known was just how much they would change. The world before that Tuesday morning and the world after it would never be quite the same.
What stays with me most after 25 years isn’t just how the world changed. It’s the people...
... The people who went to work that morning expecting an ordinary Tuesday and never came home.
... The passengers who boarded airplanes expecting to reach their destinations.
... The firefighters, police officers, paramedics and other first responders who ran toward danger.
... The people who helped strangers.
... The families who waited desperately for news.
... And the families who received news no one should ever have to receive.
For Some 9/11 Is Already History
On 9/11/2001 some 285.5 million people were alive in the USA. Since then, approximately 103-104 million Americans alive today were born after the attacks, meaning they represent nearly one-third of the current U.S. population. To them, 9/11 is history.
To those of us who lived through it, it is more than history and something very different.
I can close my eyes and still see that day.
I can still remember how it felt.
And I know I will never forget.
So today, I hope you’ll pause for just a moment and remember:
The nearly 3,000 lives lost.
The courage and sacrifice of the first responders.
Those who survived and carried the physical and emotional scars of that day with them.
The families whose lives were forever changed.
How, in the midst of unimaginable horror, we also witnessed extraordinary courage, selflessness and compassion.
To those who lost someone they loved on September 11th, my thoughts and prayers remain with you. 25 years cannot replace what was taken from you, and no anniversary can adequately express the magnitude of that loss.
For me, September 11th will probably always feel much closer than the calendar says it is. I suspect I will always become emotional when this day comes around.
And perhaps that isn’t a bad thing.
Because some things should never become just another page in a history book.
Twenty-five years later, I still remember.
And I will never forget.
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