Remembering 911 will never be difficult because I didn’t think that my generation would ever witness a terrorist attack on US soil! I clearly remember that day because I had just started a new job and had to call off work due to a nasty virus and high fever! I was home when my uncle had called from another state and informed me that a major jet airliner had crashed into several buildings in New York City! He said that the US was under attack and to put the news on! I could hardly believe what I saw after turning the TV on! It looked like something out of a movie! You could clearly see where two planes had crashed into the World Trade Center! At first I thought this has to be a mistake but as I moved from channel to channel it was for real!

I was scheduled to go to New York City during the fall of 2001 and I canceled it due to other commitments that I had going on! I decided to go in the spring instead! Around the spring of 2002 I was on my way into New York City and I reached in my handbag and opened up some notes I had from the previous time I had visited the big apple. I felt a little uneasy as the notes said reservations at the World Trade Center Windows on the World restaurant! I glanced out the airplane window and the twin towers that so proudly stood in Manhattan was nothing more then a hole in the ground with a ton of debris everywhere! As the pilot announced that we would be landing at Laguardia airport in about fifteen minutes I realized that some things would never be the same again! I saw a group of Marines standing at the airport as I walked past the security area! Their presence was formidable and I wish they had been on board during 911!

There are no second chances! I always wanted to visit the Cellar in the Sky at the World Trade Center because I heard they had an awesome wine cellar on the top floor! I saddened me to think that some things don’t allow you to have a second chance! We need to remember those that perished on 911 and always remember the families left behind! I hope that others will reach out to those left behind and include them as extended families because sometimes we don’t get a second chance at life! Two years after 911 I was living in Columbus Ohio and had a client who witnessed the twin towers being hit! Her husband had been the CEO of a company on Wall Street and she could see the second plane slam into the tower from her apartment building! You just can’t imagine these things happening and how many are affected by this! I even applied for the US Air Marshall’s around this time! I want to extend a thanks to those that gave the ultimate sacrifice on 911 such as the firemen, policemen, rescue workers, and those that put their own safety at risk to save the lives of others! The passengers on flight 93 that fought back and sacrificed themselves and also never forget those at the Pentagon! You don’t always have to be in the military to serve your country! I believe that many Americans served their country on 911 in many capacities! God bless America and our military!