September 11th 2015

September 11, 2015 Natalie

On September 11, 2001, I was in a high school Latin class when the first plane hit the first tower. One of my teachers had a daughter living in DC and was scared to death when the third plane hit the Pentagon just minutes from where her daughter worked. We were all biting our nails with her until she finally got a phone call that her daughter was safe.

In December 2004, I saw what was still left of the World Trade Center's wreckage, three years after the attacks. It was just a gaping hole in the ground with metal twisted in ways I didn't think were possible.

In December 2013, I visited the 9/11 memorial. I saw all of those names listed around the fountains. It was breathtaking and heart wrenching. I cannot even imagine having lost a loved one to something so horrible.

It's terrifying to know that there are people in the world willing to inflict that kind of horror. But we can't live in fear. We must continue to heal, to hope, and persevere.

Never Forget.