09/12/2026
Never forget. 🇺🇸
25 years later.
That’s what we said in 2001 and what we continue to do in 2026.
I was in likely my second week as a 8th grader at Sycamore Middle School. I remember my parents waking me up to something about important buildings being on fire in New York City on the television morning news. I didn’t quite understand. I was all in a rush trying to get ready. I went to school that day like everyone else. Remember, this was before social media, before wifi, before cell phones. All any of my classmates and teachers knew was what we heard on the news at home before we got to school that morning. I remember one classmate saying to all of us that we, California were next. That they were going to blow up the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco was next. I can’t remember now if any teacher turned on the television news that day. I don’t think so. Perhaps to protect students and to keep us focused on schoolwork.
This same year, I had already been saving since the 6th Grade to go on the infamous WorldStrides 8th grade spring break trip to Washington DC with Mrs. McCarthy. This trip was scheduled for April 2002. I sold a good amount of World’s Finest Chocolate Bars boxes to make it happen. I believe the trip was costing about $1,500 or $2,000 for 5 days and with flights included. In the 2000s, that was a lot of money for a kid from a low-income family. My parents trusted that I was safe to still go on the plane after what our Country had just experienced. Yet, many of my classmates dropped out because it involved getting on a plane. I think it was a group of 20. It ended up being only 7 students going. One of the places we drove by on the the Trip was the Pentagon. I took a photo with my disposable camera which I still have. I remember thinking “wow they built it so fast.” You had no idea where the plane had attacked but you did see a giant American flag hanging to show you where. We also took a “professional” group photo that was a tradition for Sycamore students. I still have mine till this day. They were pricey back then!
Then in 2012, I was chosen as part of the Chico State Model United Nation team to compete in New York City. It was an incredible opportunity since I had never been to NYC. I was also looking forward to paying my respects at Ground Zero. This was before the memorial museum was completed, but the Reflecting Pools were open.
To be at Ground Zero, it’s an experience that is indescribable. It’s peace but at the exact same time you feel a heaviness unlike anything you have experienced. The enormity of loss and pain of what everyone, the place, and the Country experienced is imprinted in that location. What is also indescribable is the careful and thoughtful intention that the National September 11 Memorial & Museum and families have created at this site. It’s an environment that you feel this heavy weight but you feel respect and honor much more immensely. I don’t know if serene is an acceptable word here. But I believe that the families, despite the pain that happened at this site, they still wanted a sense of calm and serene to exist. Again, it’s an emotion and feeling unlike anything I’ve experienced or can describe when you visit Ground Zero unless you experience it for yourself.
We will never forget:
- all the lives lost who were traveling on each of the planes that struck the North Tower, the South Tower, the Pentagon, and Shanksville, PA.
- those who wore suits and worked in the World Trade Centers,
- those who didn’t wear suits and worked in the World Trade Centers,
- those were undocumented (yes there were workers, look it up) and worked in the World Trade Centers,
- those worked at the Pentagon
- first responders who walked into the World Trade Centers and never returned home,
- the countless neighbors and business owners who helped those in need during and after the collapse,
- the hundreds and likely thousands of volunteers and workers (including undocumented workers which were also many , again look it up) who were there for the toxic yet necessary debris cleanup of the collapse to restore Downtown Manhattan.
- the countless people who are still dealing with loss, ptsd, long term conditions or who have since passed since 9/11/01.
Never Forget. 🇺🇸
[ Gridley, Butte County, Chico, Oroville, Biggs, Gridley CA, Travel , 9/11 ]
