22 years ago- 9/11

22 years since 9/11

I can't believe that it has been 22 years since the attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11.

It is amazing how time flies by in life. It seems like it was only yesterday and not 22 years ago.

I know there are certain things in your lifetime that you will always remember that are like frozen memories stuck in your head forever.

For me, it was being a baby at Woodstock, the first man walking on the moon, the space shuttle that blew up, and of course, 9/11.

I can recall every second of where I was, what I was doing, and how that moment stopped and changed everything in life, the way we knew it. 

9/11 was no different, I had just gotten back to Florida from New York the day before. I was walking around those streets 24 hours before my life would change forever.

I was at the gym on the treadmill just like I am now. The TVs were on, and it was a normal morning for all of us gym rats, when all of a sudden, life changed in a split second. As we were watching Good morning America, there were the images that those who watched will never forget, and we should never forget.

We watched the plane hitting the tower, all of a sudden there was a gasp in the gym, people telling other people what just happened. We all thought the plane lost control, that it was a freak accident. As we all gathered around the televisions in the gym, all shocked and trying to process what just happened, again in front of our eyes, another plane crashed into the second tower. There was an outcry in the gym, people literally crying, and as I write this today, I still well up with tears. I remember that moment as if I was back there right now.

We knew this was not an accident that this was an act of war right here in our county. For me, it was deeper as I was just there the day before. This was an assault to my hometown. These were people I knew who worked in those buildings. This made me stop, get on my knees, and start praying for all of these people.

We all sat there glued to the television, tears running down our faces, men and women alike as we watched the news come in of the other attacks on the Pentagon and in the field in Virginia. We came to realize this was an out and out attack on the United States, and it shook us to the core. Never before, in my lifetime, was there such a blatant attack on American soil, not since Pearl Harbor. 

Time stood still, I don't remember how long we stood there. It had to be hours. We finally went home, and as I walked in, I grabbed my babies, and I cried because I knew this changed their world forever. This was war, and we didn't know how this would turn out. I was afraid for them and for myself.

I frantically tried over and over to get in touch with loved ones but with no avail. Phone lines were jammed up with everyone else trying to do the same. No one went to work. The world stopped as we all sat in front of the television all day and all night, trying to piece together what had happened and why.

In the coming days and weeks, we learned the full truth about the attacks and the lives lost and all the people that were affected by this tragedy.

I was lucky that my friends and family were okay, but so many people weren't as lucky as I was.

I saw my city come together, help one another, and show the world just what we New Yorkers were made of.

I couldn't have been prouder to be a New Yorker. To be an American, there is nothing like an attack to bring people back on the same team. This attack brought everyone together. No matter what color, religion, or sexual orientation, we were one, us against them. 

Every home now waved an American flag. Everyone had American flag pins, we were all in this together, all for one and one for all. Just like we should have been all along. 

Sometimes we forget this, and sometimes we all get caught up in our everyday lives that we forget the bigger picture. That we are better together than against each other. We put away our differences to band together, and it was a beautiful sight, one I hadn't seen before since Woodstock.

In the 22 years since the attacks, life has gotten back to normal for most of us. For the people who lost loved ones, it will never be normal or the same. We need to never forget this day, the lives that were lost, or the reason this happened.

We must keep teaching this in our schools, to our children, we must remember that this can happen again, at any day in any city. But the most important lesson we need to remember is that in that moment we were one, we showed each other compassion and love, we worked together, we helped one another, the way it should always be.

So today my friends, on this terrible anniversary of 9/11, let's remember and honor the lives that were lost, the brave men and women that helped save lives and the hearts that were opened to reach out to our brothers and sisters.

Let's remember the feeling of togetherness that this horrible event brought, let all of these lives not be lost in vain. Today, we need to remember to love one another because tomorrow isn't guaranteed, and life can change in a heartbeat.

Never forgot 9/11

"Be the change you want to see"

@TreadmillTreats