In Memoriam: 9/11- 20 Years

The day began just as so many had before.?The commute by train.?The walk to work.?It still felt like summer even though the kids were back in school.?The sky was clear, the sun was bright. But, in an instant, what began as a beautiful, perfectly normal day turned tragically dark.?

I was in the front conference room, wrapping up our regular Tuesday morning portfolio review meeting and talking about the recently completed US Open tennis tournament, when someone came running in to tell us a plane had just hit one of the World Trade Centers in lower Manhattan.?Instinctively we raced to the southern exposure of our floor where we could see smoke billowing into the sky from One World Trade.?I ran to my desk and phoned my mother, who was on a flight from Pittsburgh to New York that morning.?You can imagine my relief when she picked up the phone and told me she was already in a cab on the FDR Drive.??Instantly my thoughts turned to my brother, who worked across the street in the World Financial Center.?Was he safe??The next few hours until he and I finally connected were among the most excruciating in my life.?Sadly, for so many of our friends, colleagues, and people in our communities around New York City that relief never came.?For many of them, that pain still remains just below the surface 20 years later.?

In the days, weeks and months after the attacks, there was a palpable change in New York.?It was as if the tragedy, which had befallen all of us in one way or another, brought us together in ways small and large.?We all became more tolerant, more pleasant to one another.?People held doors open for others and shared cab rides.??I remember how grateful I felt when my friends and people I knew professionally from all over the world called or emailed to ask how I was doing.?I believe that the grace and kindness extended by others during that time stood in the face of those who commissioned and committed these acts of terror.?Every act of compassion and kindness gave us all hope for the future by restoring faith in our collective humanity.?And it helped us begin healing.

Even though many of the raw emotions from that day remain, and the acts of kindness have become fewer and further between, I still have hope—because once you have seen the good that we humans are capable of doing, you cannot unsee it.?Even as many of our political leaders have polarized us over the past few years, at a time when we should all be coming together, I still have hope.?I have hope because I have taken time to read and listen to the stories of individuals who have extended themselves beyond the call of duty to help others in their time of need.?Just like they did on 9/11.

As we commemorate the 20th anniversary of the solemn events of 9/11, I encourage you to remain hopeful.?Use this painful anniversary to rededicate yourself to making a positive difference in the lives of others.?And when you do something kind for someone, do it two or three times in memory of those whose lives were lost on that day.?Do it for their families to help them continue healing.?Do it for yourself to help you cope—to demonstrate your own personal resilience during difficult times.?I promise you will feel better.?And you will feel stronger for it as well.?

To those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001, my heart continues to grieve for you as it always does on this date.?May you find comfort in the faces and actions of others who have extended themselves to help over the past two decades.?May the memories of those who perished continue to be a blessing to all of us—and continue inspiring us too.

Stay safe.