09/11/2026
WHAT I REMEMBER MOST ABOUT SEPTEMBER 11TH...IS SEPTEMBER 12TH.
It’s hard to believe it has been 25 years.
Recently, my son had a homework assignment asking him to interview his parents about September 11, 2001.
One of the questions was simple: “What do you remember most about 9/11?”
I thought about it for a while. The images. The confusion. The disbelief.
I remember being dumbfounded. I remember the hurt. I remember the rage. I remember crying. I remember calling my family because, in that moment, you just needed to hear the voices of the people you loved.
Those emotions were intense.
But when I really thought about his question, I realized something.
What I remember most about September 11th...is September 12th.
I remember UNITY.
For a moment, America wasn't red or blue or black or white.
We weren't divided by politics, backgrounds, beliefs, neighborhoods, or anything else we so often allow to separate us.
We were Americans.
Flags appeared everywhere. Churches filled. Strangers hugged. Neighbors checked on neighbors. First responders were treated like the heroes they are. People donated blood. People volunteered. People prayed.
We grieved together. We stood together. America was ONE.
Twenty-five years later, we rightly remember the nearly 3,000 lives stolen from us on September 11. We honor the first responders who ran toward unimaginable danger. We remember the families who said goodbye that morning without knowing it would be the last time.
But maybe we should also remember September 12th.
Not because it erases the horror of the day before. Nothing ever could.
But because September 12th reminded us of who we are capable of being.
As a Chamber of Commerce, we talk constantly about community. About supporting our neighbors. About showing up. About looking out for one another.
Twenty-five years ago, an entire nation showed us what those words really mean.
Perhaps one of the greatest ways we can honor those we lost is to find a little bit of September 12th again.
Check on your neighbor. Thank a first responder. Help someone who needs it. Fly the flag. Put differences aside. Choose compassion over anger. Remember that we have far more in common than we sometimes allow ourselves to believe.
Never forget September 11th.
But please...Never forget September 12th, either. 🇺🇸
May God bless those we lost, those who still carry the scars of that day, and the country that showed the world the following morning that even in our darkest hour, we could still stand together.
United we stood. May we never forget how that felt.
