I was in a staff meeting at the church when we received an emergency phone call. On the line was the wife of one of our pastors. She was explaining that an airplane had crashed into the side of one of the twin towers in New York City. As she was trying to make sense of what had happened, another plane slammed into the other tower. We listened as she told us what she was hearing from the news reporters – we are under attack. Our entire leadership staff rushed to a television only to be horrified by the repeated replays of both airplanes crashing into the buildings and just a few minutes later as both towers came crashing to the ground. Over the next few days I stayed glued to the news to find out all the details of what had happened. During the countless hours of television viewing I listened to stories of people and discovered the selfless acts of heroism in everyday citizens.

It is hard to believe that was seven years ago. Today I pulled up some old news coverage on YouTube and relived the emotions of what I felt that day. Images of innocent people jumping from the burning buildings and falling to their death are something I cannot seem to erase from my mind. I was scared, angry, and fearful of what the future held. In the days and months following these horrific attacks, our nation came together as I have never seen in my lifetime. Everyone seemed like they cared about their neighbor and the person across the street. For the first time in my life, the well-being of others was so much more important than me. I miss those days. It is kind of weird how tragedy brings us together, but then time begins to pull us apart…shame on me for forgetting.