09/11/2026
I was just 13 years old when we took a school trip to New York City. A group of friends and I snapped this picture with the Twin Towers behind us—young and carefree on a beautiful sunny day, thinking it would be fun to make a pyramid with the New York skyline in the background.
Looking at it now, there is something about this photo that captures such a moment of innocence.
A little more than a decade later, I was leaving New York in a taxi with another group of friends. As we drove out of the city, we pointed at the Twin Towers and took pictures through the windows. Two days later was September 11, 2001.
Like so many Americans, I can still remember exactly where I was when I heard the news. But one of the things that has stayed with me all these years is the image of those towers—and the realization that a skyline I had always assumed would be there had been permanently changed.
Places become part of our sense of belonging. Their skylines, buildings and familiar views form the backdrop of our lives, and sometimes we don’t realize how much they anchor us until they are gone.
But I also remember so vividly what came afterward: America came together. ❤️🩹
Twenty-five years later, I hope we never forget the lives that were lost, the families forever changed, the heroes who ran toward danger, and the way our country came together in the days and months that followed.
Never forget. 🇺🇸❤️
