09/11/2026
I was in first grade on September 11, 2001.
There are a lot of things from first grade I couldn’t tell you today, but I can still picture that TV sitting on a cart with wheels. I remember watching at school, going home and watching more, and knowing something horrible had happened.
I remember the fear and anger after 9/11, but I also remember the patriotism that followed. American flags were everywhere. People were proud of this country, and there was this overwhelming sense that whatever came next, we were Americans and we were in it together.
It’s hard to believe that was 25 years ago. Now there are adults who weren’t alive when it happened and kids who know September 11th only as something they learn about in school. For those of us who do remember, though, it doesn’t feel like something from a history book.
It was 2,977 people who didn’t get to go home that day. It was families whose lives changed forever. It was watching our country hurt, and then watching it come together.
Maybe that’s why, 25 years later, those memories are still so clear.
May we never forget any of it. 🇺🇸
9.11.2001