September 11, 2001. It was a Tuesday morning. I had celebrated my 42nd birthday only ten days earlier. It must’ve been just before 6am PST and I was sound asleep, when my sister burst into my room and screamed, “we’re under attack.” I had no idea what she was screaming about. She turned on the small TV at the foot of my bed, and the first thing I remember seeing was all that smoke. A few minutes later, I saw something that I will never, ever, forget for as long as I live. An airplane entered the picture and I realized in that split second that it was going to crash into the building. And almost before I could finish my thought, it exploded into a gigantic ball of flame and completely disintegrated on impact. I heard my sister say something like, “OMG, a second one.” I asked her what she meant. She told me about the first plane hitting the first building, and this was the second one. I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing (and seeing). I rubbed my eyes and sat up in bed, completely transfixed. Not sure how long I watched the coverage from bed, but eventually I made my way down to the living room sofa. I turned on the TV, and I sat on that sofa for the next 72 hours watching the most horrific News footage I’ve ever seen. At this point, there’s really no need for me to describe anything. We all know what happened and we all share the same heart-breaking memories of that day. And I’m sure I’m not alone in my sentiment when I say that I feel so sorry for anyone who had to witness the events of that day, whether you were standing in the streets of NY or watching TV 3000 miles away. No one should have to see something like that. And certainly no one should have to live through it. How is could such a senseless and tragic loss of life, be the result of one group of human beings just believing differently from another group of human beings? The one and only common denominator that really matters is our humanity. In memory of the 2996 lives lost that day, we all need to do a better job of living a life that reflects this idea. My thoughts and prayers to all the 9/11 victims and their families.

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