09/11/2026
Twenty-five years ago today, I was in the middle of a busy morning in Dallas when I stopped to watch the television in our living room. I watched in disbelief as smoke poured from one of the World Trade Center towers in New York City. Then, thinking I was watching a replay, I realized with horror that I had just watched a second plane hit the tower—live.
I remember the fear and confusion that followed. I went to college, but classes were quickly canceled as everyone gathered around televisions, trying to understand what was happening. A few friends and I went to the restaurant where I worked to give blood, only to find a line stretching around the building and through the parking lot. Even then, amid the uncertainty, people were looking for ways to help.
My mother worked at American Airlines headquarters at the time. Two of the planes involved were American Airlines flights, and she went to the airline’s crisis center. She barely came home for the next two weeks. I will never forget the grief she and her colleagues carried for the crews, passengers, and families who were lost. Their sorrow was personal, but it was also part of a national mourning that touched nearly every community.
The death and destruction of September 11 were overwhelming. Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks, and thousands more have since died from related illnesses. Nearly 3,000 children lost a parent. Families were changed forever, and the world has never been the same.
Yet alongside the grief, we witnessed extraordinary courage. First responders, airline crews, passengers, medical workers, volunteers, and ordinary citizens risked—and gave—their lives for strangers. People opened their homes, donated blood, searched for ways to serve, and stood beside one another in the aftermath.
For a brief time, our differences seemed insignificant. We were simply Americans, united by loss, compassion, and a common purpose. Twenty-five years later, we remember those who were taken from us. We honor those who gave their lives, those who survived, and those who continue to carry the consequences of that day.
We will never forget. And may we never forget the strength, courage, and compassion we can find when we stand together as one.
-Zelda Vasquez
