9/11
remembrances

On 9/11/2001 I took this picture of a new day dawning from the window of our plane from LAX to Germany, along with my father and youngest son. My family immigrated to America and we were looking forward to reuniting with our extended family. Our evening departure flight was delayed so when we landed in Frankfurt we had to run to catch our connector flight. As we exited the plane, people waiting for their loved ones were shouting, asking if we’d heard that a plane had hit the tower - we had to keep running, looking out the windows but saw nothing. It was not until a cousin and her husband greeted us at our destination that we learned what had occurred while we were in flight. We watched the news at home and were in absolute shock, it seemed surreal. We were in Europe for a month and everywhere we traveled there were American flags hanging on buildings with handwritten signs saying. “Our hearts are with you.” 9/11 affected people around the globe - my cousin has a friend whose father worked in one of the towers and he died when it came down. People around the globe can recapture the unity experienced through that shared traumatic event, if only we can open our hearts again

I went to college in New York and had a view of the Twin Towers from my dorm senior year. That view seemed magical -- it meant possibility and dreams to conquer. Seeing the towers fall was emotionally tough. And for years September would feel like a punch in the gut. It took a long time, but now I can look at 9/11 and associate it will resilience, and the idea of people coming together to serve one another and do good. I hope to see more of that spirit in our communities, towns, cities and country.

9/11 has had a generational impact and I am curious what our reporters will learn about the country 25 years later.