09/11/2026
We took a moment this morning, sitting together in the family room of our vacation rental, to ask a simple question:
“Where were you on September 11, 2001?”
The answers were memories from 25 years ago that still felt incredibly close.
My husband’s grandmother was sitting in the call center at DSS Child Support, working. A coworker left and brought a television back so everyone could watch together as the unimaginable unfolded.
Her sister was sitting at her breakfast table with her adult son. She reminded us of something that can sometimes be forgotten when we talk about the heroes of that day: many of the first responders carried September 11th home with them. Her friend, a firefighter who responded, still struggles with the memories of recovering the bodies of victims from the devastation.
My mother in law was at home doing homework for her courses when a friend called and told her, “Turn on the TV.”
She asked, “What channel?”
Her friend answered, “Any of them.”
Later, daycare closed early. She remembers feeling like she could not get to her babies fast enough.
My father in law was at work. Someone had a television in one of the offices, and he stood there watching when the second plane hit.
Different places. Different lives. Different memories.
But everyone remembers.
Sitting there listening to their stories made me think about how history lives beyond textbooks and documentaries. It lives in family rooms. In stories passed from one generation to another. In the parents who just wanted to get to their children. In the coworkers who gathered around a television. In the first responders who ran toward unimaginable destruction—and who have carried what they saw for the rest of their lives.
Twenty-five years later, we remember the lives lost. We remember their families. We remember the firefighters, police officers, paramedics, service members, and ordinary people who showed extraordinary courage. And we remember the countless first responders and survivors who continued to carry the physical and emotional wounds long after the world moved forward.
One day, our children will ask us about September 11th even though they were born decades after it happened. I hope we keep telling them these stories.
Where we were.
What we remember.
Who we lost.
And how, on one of America’s darkest days, we witnessed incredible courage, sacrifice, and humanity.
September 11, 2001. Never forget. 🇺🇸
