Today is a day of remembrance and honoring those that gave the greatest sacrifice, their lives to help people in need. To the men and women of the NYFD and NYPD. They ran to the flames and chaos while so many ran away.

This isn’t a political post. But I do call on all Americans to quiet their divided hearts and minds and remember what you were doing that fateful day.

I remember where I was, precisely. They say it’s unfortunate that we remember these events (Pearl Harbor or JFK assassination, Challenger Explosion, etc.). We sometimes forget the happiest of times (wedding day, first born child or buying your first car). So why do we always remember such bad things. Because, we can’t forget them; we shouldn’t forget them.

I was driving to work with my mother. We worked for the same company. The news broke into the music and morning show to report a “plane has struck the World Trade Center.” There wasn’t much information. So, my mother and I speculated what could have happened. Maybe there was a bunch of clouds and the plane got lost. We thought about the B-25 bomber that struck the Empire State Building in a similar fashion. In our minds we pictured the plan as a small Cessna or private plane. No way we would have thought it was a Boeing 767 Passenger plane. How could something like that happen?

When we finally arrived in the office, there wasn’t much work going on. I remember that the office was not the buzz of phones ringing, typewriters or tapping on keyboards. It was an eerie echo of the same news broadcast on dozens of radios. More information was now making its way to our ears. People witnessed a passenger plan slam into the North Tower. We were speechless. No one was talking and if they were we were just trying to determine how and why.

2001 was not a time for the smart phones we have now. Cell phones were still primitive. the internet was still mostly dial-up. Yet, our office had just gotten PCs in replacement of the X terms we used prior. It had very limited interest and we tried to find more news. We wanted to see something. One co-worker had a tiny black and white television at her desk. I’ve never seen so many poeple trying push their way to watch a tiny 6 inch TV screen. All that we saw was the North Tower on fire. We were sad. To shocked to be scared.

Then reports of terrorism. News channels reminded us of the attack in 1993. This may be a more successful event like the last. How could this happen in America?

Then, the fire alarm went off in our building. A voice blared through the emergency speakers and told us that we needed to evacuate the building. There was a creditable threat to the office building and we needed to leave. The dash for our cars was a nightmare. We were charged with adrenaline and fear. After a very long stressful wait, we got out of the parking garage and on the road home. It was then on that drive back home we heard that a second plane had stuck the South Tower. My mother and I remained silent the entire drive home.

Now I was angry. I wanted to know who could do this. And how dare we allow it.

Then, I watched the next 24 hours of the brave men and women that ran into those buildings. Those brave souls that were still inside helping when they collapsed.

We will not forget you. I promise I will do my best to help remember them. God Bless them and their families. God Bless the UNITED STATES of AMERICA.