As I sit here today, thinking about the people who lost their lives in New York City five years ago this morning, I can’t help but think back to the fateful day that changed the way that Americans think of the numbers 9-11.

On September 11, 2001 I was getting ready to leave a coworkers house to head home. He got a call from his mother, telling him that one of the Towers was gone. On my end, all I heard him say was things like “No way…are you serious? You are just kidding right?” When he put on CNN, I was completely shocked and taken aback.  I continued to get ready to leave, wondering what the hell was going on. Minutes later, the second Tower collapsed to the ground.

It was the start, the sad, cold start of a whole new way of living for the entire world.

It was also the end of happiness for a lot of people who deserved far better.  It’s amazing even today to think back and think of how massive, how devastating it was.  It’s almost impossible to live in or around NYC and not have known someone who was injured, lost their job, or lost their life that day.  It’s even more impossible to not personally know someone who lost someone.

In a world unto itself, my hometown never seemed like such a small world.  On that day, and in the days that followed, I heard from friends that lived in New York City, as I had moved across the country. I heard from friends that I met in my travels and friends that I only knew from their online screen names.  Everyone was checking on me and my family. 

It was the same for everyone else around the world. If you knew someone in NYC, chances are you were calling, texting, emailing, trying to make sure everything was okay in their corner of the world.  Even if you hadn’t spoken to someone in years, you wanted that relief - just knowing that person was okay. 

In a moment that was the darkest for our country, everyone did what they could to console, to help, to listen, and to mourn.  There was never a stronger day in our lifetimes and in many ways, our world would be a lot better if we remembered that day and tried to act towards each other the way we did that day, every day, for no reason beyond it’s the right thing to do and we’d want someone to do that for us, just because.

George Carlin once said, “We can send a man to the moon, but we can’t walk across the street to meet our neighbor.”  That day five years ago, everyone forgot about egos, about grudges, about anger, and only cared about their concerns for someone else.  It seems so simple, and yet, it’s often forgotten to the mundane grind of daily life.  Perhaps that’s a lesson that should be remembered and learned from.  I don’t know.

I find myself still trying to figure out how this all happened, and I think it’s important to take in every perspective, even if it seems like a stretch at times.

If you have someone you care about, call them today.  If you have someone you are angry at, forgive them and move on.  If you have someone you miss, send them an email.  If you have someone you haven’t thought of in a while, think of them, whether they are with us today or not.  9/11 proved, all too grim, that life is far too short.  Embrace it and live it, enjoy it, don’t squander it.  Don’t forget those who add to your happiness and appreciate them, all of them, because you never know when you might find out they are gone forever.

Beyond that, don’t forget those who are less fortunate and those who lost their lives five years ago today.  Think of those who have lost those close to them, and wish them strength.  It’s the least you, I, and everyone else reading this, can do.