Look down at your shoes. Could you break into a run in those if you needed to?
Twelve years ago, the men and women getting ready to go to work at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon didn’t know they would be running that day.
For many New Yorkers, the shoes they picked up off the closet floor that morning would later carry them down flights of stairs and through the streets of the city.
They would become worn, covered with dust, and perhaps broken in a matter of minutes.
Some would become pieces of history.
There’s not much I can say that hasn’t been said before. I’ll never forget this horrible day and each year the pain is fresh, as I’m sure it is for you.
Each year, they play those videos of the old newscasts, the calls from the buildings, the scenes in the smoke, the waiting for survivors, the realization of what actually happened.
Every time, we have a chance to re-embrace the gift and opportunities in our lives — in our lives in this wonderful country. A country that people around the world are dying to come to — that represents FREEDOM to the world.
So today, remember the families. Remember the heroes. Remember the victims. Decide how your life is going to matter — because you have an obligation to make it so. You can. So do.
Never forget.
*Running & Remembering 9/11