Twenty-five years ago this morning, I was getting ready to head back to high school.
I was returning to earn my diploma, and I had a two-week-old baby at home.
I was already scared.
I didn’t know what my life was going to look like from there. I didn’t know how to be an adult. I didn’t know how to be responsible for myself and another human life. But I knew I was going to do my best.
Little did I know that within a couple of hours, the world as I knew it would change forever.
All of our lives would.
Twenty-five years ago today, amid the shock, fear, heartbreak, and devastation of September 11th, something else happened that would quietly shape the rest of my life:
I decided I wanted to become a nurse.
It feels strange to speak of something good being born from a day filled with so much unimaginable loss. But for me, that day unveiled the trajectory of my future in just a few short moments.
My world was shaken that day. I have never been quite the same person since—and neither have so many others.
Twenty-five years later, I can look back at that scared teenage mother with a two-week-old baby, heading back to high school with absolutely no idea what her future held.
She didn’t know it yet, but that morning would help her discover what she was meant to do with her life.
Today, I remember the lives lost, the families forever changed, the first responders who ran toward danger, and a day that changed an entire generation.
Hold your loved ones closely.
Say what needs to be said. Love them while you can.
You just never know how quickly everything can change.
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