September 11th

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September 11, 2001. I was 13 years old. It was a beautiful sunny September day. Whoever happened to be watching TV that morning, sat in disbelief- was this real? is this really happening? 

How in the world has it been 21 years already?! 

As each year passes by, the memories and feelings surrounding this day are still the same. I am sad and shocked. I am in disbelief that this has happened and I am in disbelief that it has been so many years. 

I remember exactly where I was, just like everyone else and its not lost on me that so much has changed since then. On September 12, America was united and we came together for a common cause; everyone was working together and helping each other through this horrific time. No one cared about race, religion, sex or status, they came together because they wanted to help. 

There are so images from that day, I am pretty sure no one will forget. They are the same ones that pop up every year around this time and while those images are everywhere, I find it fascinating that new to me images are still be published. 

My dad, an Elizabeth Fire Department Captain (now Ret. Battalion Chief) was there the night of September 11th and with his trusty disposable camera, he captured some pretty raw photographs. These photographs sit in a proper photo album and have never been digitalized.  I thought about it many times to make them available to me to use but I just can't bring myself to do that. Those will remain analog  and part of history.  I will share the one photo, I share every year. I found this photo of my dad in a book a few months after September 11th. I will forever cherish it along with all the other photos we have:

Over the last 21 years, there has been a lot of documentaries, articles, photographs, podcasts and opinion pieces that have come out about September 11th. Some of them are hard to watch due to the content, the things that I chose to watch, read or listen to have been truly interesting. 

Here is an incomplete list of media about September 11th that I read and watched:

Books:

Ordinary heroes: A Memoir of 9/11 by Joseph Pfeifer

The Day The World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland by Jim Defede

The Red Bandanna: A Life. A Choice. A Legacy by Tom Rinaldi

No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden by Mark Owen

Last Man Down: A Firefighter's Story of Survival and Escape from the World Trade Center by Richard Picciotto

Documentaries: 

9/11 by Jules and Gedeon Naudet

The Red Bandanna

9/11: One Day in America

There is just so much to read, listen and to watch about September 11th, I feel like if I don't limit myself to only a few things, I will be overwhelmed. I am always on the search for something new to drink in about September 11th. This year is the book, Last Man Down, which I am currently reading. 

Over the years, I've shared my thoughts about September 11th, you can find them below:

Faith Over Fear

Where Were You When The World Stopped?

Resilient and Strong

They Save Us. Who Save Them?

I hope you spend today with loved ones and you hug everyone just a little tighter knowing that some families did not get the opportunity on the morning of September 11th. 

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I will leave you with one more photo, if you have ever listened to this voicemail, you know how heartbreaking this is. 

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[[If we learn nothing else from this tragedy, we learn that life is short and there is no time for hate- Sandy Dahl, wife of Flight 91 pilot, Jason Dahl]]