Remembering 9/11/01

I'll never forget that morning. Like any other work day, my alarm went off to news radio. I quickly realized it was no ordinary work day when I heard the somber announcement that one of the World Trade Center towers had collapsed after a terrorist attack. It couldn't be true, so we dashed off to the living room to see the horrifying reality before our very eyes. A few moments later, tower #2 went down.

James and the World Trade Center. (1996)

Like everyone else that day, I was shocked. I was horrified. I was scared. Hearing that the attackers also crashed a plane into the Pentagon, it made me wonder, what targets on the west coast were going to be hit? Was L.A. to be targeted as well? Surely we wouldn't escape this tragedy. In the end, we all felt the loss.

James near the World Trade Center. (1996)

More than anything, the biggest loss that day was the nearly 3,000 people that died in the World Trade Center, the four planes and the Pentagon. But when I came across these old slides of a visit to New Jersey in 1996, it made me realize how much I miss seeing the World Trade Center. May it always be remembered.