With the anniversary of September 11th, 2001 just one day away, I wanted to take time to remember that day and think of all the victims and their families. I remember where I was and what I was doing at that exact moment when the first plane hit the World Trade Center. I had woken up quite early that day and was a bit frustrated that I woke up so early (for me, anyway). I decided to turn on the news and within minutes, there was live coverage of the attack. At first I couldn't believe and process what I was seeing. It seemed surreal to me. Did I just watch an airplane fly into the World Trade Center? I didn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it. But as the minutes turned into hours, it became all too real. I had just moved back to Florida, from New Jersey (for the second time) two months earlier, and was in my rental house. Other than my mother, my entire family still lived in New Jersey and I had a cousin who worked in NYC as a fashion buyer. Immediately, my thoughts went to her. I called my father and asked if Colleen was working that day and he said yes and that she was walking on the bridge, to try to get out of New York. He said that she was okay, but that so many people were fleeing from the scene and there were many people on the bridge with her, trying to get out of New York. I was glad to hear that she was fine, but I thought of all the people whose lives had changed in that moment. I had previously worked in New York City and I thought about those that were still in the buildings that I once worked in. I knew that it was likely that their lives would be greatly impacted and that they had people in their lives that they had just lost in this tragedy. I was fortunate that I did not lose any friends or family that day, but some of my family and friends did lose people that were close to them.

In honor of September 11th, let's take a moment to think of those who are no longer with us.