Do you remember where you were on September 11, 2001?
For most Americans, it’s easy. That moment – and its ripples – are imprinted on our minds. I was at my desk, watching CNBC while trading. For my son, Zach, it was in his 3rd-grade class. They wheeled in a TV on a cart for the students to watch. One of his classmates’ uncles was killed in the attack.
Nearly 3000 people were killed during the attacks.
A colleague of mine was supposed to be in the tower that day but rescheduled a meeting for the following day – narrowly missing it.
And now 25 years have passed. So much has changed. So much has stayed the same. We’ve analyzed the events of that morning a thousand ways from different vantage points … and it’s still impossible to fully grasp the weight of the event.
It’s crazy to imagine that there are now full-fledged adults who have no memory of it.
And with that, Visual Capitalist put together a great chronology of the event. As we honor those who gave their lives – or had them taken from them – it’s a powerful reminder. Click the image to enlarge.
Looking Back, Looking Forward
As we remember September 11, it’s also a time of year when the Jewish calendar calls us to do something similar: pause, remember, and reflect. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins a period of looking back at the year that has passed, taking stock of where we are, and thinking about the kind of people we want to be in the year ahead.
There’s something fitting about that connection. We can’t change what happened on September 11, 2001. But we can choose what we remember, what we carry forward, and how we respond to the world around us. Maybe that’s the real work of remembrance — not looking backward, but letting what we remember quietly shape how we move forward.
P.S. The physical scars have mostly healed — the Pentagon was rebuilt, and a new World Trade Center rises in Lower Manhattan. But for the first responders who ran toward it that day, the wounds haven’t. Here’s a powerful video of Jon Stewart, still fighting for them.
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