Every year, my husband and I debate how to approach this day. We don’t want to be silent about one of the most significant days of our lives, nor do we think social media will benefit greatly from the addition of our recollections of where we were when we experienced it. But we remember, and we want to share, because “never forget” meant something twenty years ago and it means something to us now. It is important that we remember that people loathe America so much that 09/11 happened. It is important that we remember security lapses that allowed 09/11 to happen.

The first photo I am sharing here is before the second plane hit the second tower. I was at work on this day in 2001, and my office manager was listening to the radio when the planes hit. The first plane hit, and I thought the pilot had really f*cked up. My brain couldn’t comprehend an act like that being intentional – until the second plane hit. At that moment, I knew something was even more wrong. And my office manager turned off the radio soon thereafter, finding it to be distracting. That woman was always a little screwy with priorities.

At that moment, I guess we all knew something was wrong. See these people running in the next photo? That was New York. My father-in-law was somewhere in Manhattan, near the towers, but I didn’t know him then. He’d been in Vietnam and I don’t think it took a full minute after plane 1 hit the first tower for him to revert to his USMC training and let people know they were in harm’s way. I didn’t know my husband who was a reporter in Charlotte then, wondering all day if his father was OK. I was sitting in a small office in Asheville, North Carolina, thinking that I got up and went to work and a plane didn’t fly into my building. I knew where everyone who mattered to me was. And I called my parents when I got home that night, because I could.

It was and is a very sad day for America, but I don’t think the sadness was limited to us. Other people felt and shared our grief. Muslims who would not have attacked us that way felt betrayed and scared for how they would be perceived. For a brief period, America united and I don’t remember hearing about Ds or Rs. We had all endured a common tragedy, we saw more significant battles to fight, and some people couldn’t keep up with the number of funerals happening in their circles.

Pete did a memorial show yesterday (https://omny.fm/shows/the-pete-kaliner-show/the-pete-kaliner-show-on-wbt-09-10-2021-hour-3). He always does a good job with that. Today, we will be with friends and family, and I’m sure we will discuss today’s events 20 years ago. I hope you will, also – whether you lived it or not – because those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.