09/11/2023
Being a young kid, and being so emotionally moved by the missing person posters in the street at the local nail salon or bodega made me angry and sad. I didn’t know what to do with all this terror and destruction, but then I saw these men. To who me looked like giant robots, they were hurting just like I was but they had a job to do. That job had purpose and a need from its community like never before.
Engine 22 Ladder 13 was right down the street from my aunt’s apartment off of 85th street in the upper east side. I already knew I wanted to be just like them when I grew up, watching them on this day in particular made it my purpose not just a choice. I thank those men everyday for keeping my aunt and countless others safe in our community.
Those men and 343 others, as well as Port Authority Police and NYPD ran into those buildings for each other, for their fellow neighbors, for their families. For the love of one another. What I saw was people willing to step up and do the work.
As the missing persons posters changed to we will miss you, and We Will Never Forget, these men and women and countless others continued to clean up debris and remains for years to come. There isn’t anything I could say to really convey how this day every year creeps up on me, and reminds me that we are not just a country of strangers but neighbors. We must be kind and remember to continue to be there for one another, to love your neighbor and always reach out a helping hand.
You don’t need a badge and an axe to do the right thing. You just need to have a heart.
We Will Never Forget.
#343
#91101