September 11. 2021
By Twana Young
Twenty years ago I was teaching 6th grade when the first plane struck the North Tower. I will never forget that day. There was a knock on my door and I was asked to go to the principal’s office. I remember standing in the office with some of my colleagues watching when the second plane hit the South Tower. We suddenly realized that there was more going on here. I never imagined I would have to walk a group of 6th-grade students through something so devastating, especially since it hit so close to home. In my class was a student named Ronald who just moved from New York with his family. His dad a NY firefighter stayed behind and his company was one of the first to go into the towers.
We were watching with another class as the towers burned, rescue crews rushed in to help them, and then the towers collapsed. I remember the gasp and the silence that followed. As the days unfolded it became clear that Ronald’s dad would not be coming home.
As I think about that time, there was uncertainty, fear, questions, anger, sadness, but there was also patriotism, unity, and love for your neighbor. We came together, mourned together, prayed together, stood side by side and fought together, and felt gratitude and love in our hearts for our first responders, military, and all the families who were impacted. We were mindful and kind in the words we used, we extended grace and love to each other without politicizing everything, we took care of those who were hurting, and stood unified as a nation.
Last year I was able to go visit the 9/11 memorial site for the first time. The place is silent, humbling, heartbreaking, and an example of sacrifice. It is also a place filled with gratitude, memories, patriotism, unity, and examples of what it means to love your neighbor. On one of the worst days for our country, the best in people came out to help and care for one another.
My prayer as we remember the lives that were lost and those that were forever changed twenty years ago today, that we remember to love one another, extend grace, focus more on what unites us than divides us, and seek the Lord. May God Bless you, your family, our nation, and the world. 
Twana Young 