I wake up on this day, each year, with a lump in my throat. Tears end up streaming down my cheeks and I have this intense need to help someone.

Today is no different.

16 years.

16 years have gone by.

I didn’t personally know any of the souls that passed on, but I still feel the pain inside.

I cry because I can’t imagine the pain of the people that did…the people that lost a loved one.

And I definitely cannot wrap my mind around the strength and faith it has taken to carry on …

I came across a quote last week that went something like this…

“If you lost it all tomorrow, what would you miss about today?”

It really made me think.

So many things for me.

And strangely enough, all the simple day to day things came to mind.

My warm cup of coffee when I awake. My family. My dog. My close friends. My cozy pajamas. Running water. Food.

And it gets more simple from there…..the air that I breathe, and just…life.

If it was all taken away….I’m not really sure how you’d go on??

Then, last night, as my husband and I watched a television show about 9/11, I began to think.

I wondered how that morning went for the thousands of souls that never walked through their front door again.

Was their morning ordinary?

A kiss on the cheek for the wife they would never see again?

The typical “running around the house” kind of morning?

The wave as your child got onto the bus?

I wondered what their last words spoken to family or friends had been.

I wondered if they had lived a life they were satisfied with.

It brought about so many thoughts and questions about how I am living this very moment.

Because none of us truly know when our last day here will be.

Had I said “I love you” enough?

Was my word golden?

Did I do the right thing then or there?

Has my life been a life lived to the fullest or just days crossed off on the calendar?

I find,sometimes, that in this busy world, it is easy to be the hamster on the wheel. Running as fast as we can, no end in sight, and not having a clue where we are headed or why the hell we are running so fast!!!

It’s days like today, my friends.

Days like today.

It’s time to stop running.

Stop running long enough to “SEE”.

The souls that we lost on this day lived LOUD.

The stories and witnesses have proved that. They were heroes….in every sense of the word.

They fought until their last breath.

They saved others.

They said their “I love you’s”.

They lived to the fullest.

They will always have my utmost respect for all they gave on that day.

So very much was lost.

Life, hopes, dreams, time.

But we ROSE. Literally, out of the ashes.

We rose and kept their legacies and memories alive. We rose by changing how we lived. We rose by how we viewed others. We rose because we survived.

I will never forget.

I wasn’t there.

I didn’t know each of you.

I didn’t feel your fear.

I didn’t have your courage.

I was at home, with my 4 young children when I heard the news.

I wept for you.

With you.

And because of you.

I DO know you left a mark.

An impact that will never be forgotten.

So, this morning, for the 16th year, I will bow my head to pray for your souls, your families, your friends.

I pray that your lives were examples for those around you.

I pray that the world will know peace.

I pray for healing.

And I pray that we will never forget what you gave🇺🇸

Because, I will never,ever forget you.

Much love,

Linda