On the morning of 9/11, my brother came into my bedroom, woke me up, and said "A plane just hit one of the World Trade Center Buildings." He turned my TV on in time for us both to see another plane hit the second WTC Building. Neither one of us could believe what we were seeing, planes crashing into the WTC? I remember saying to my brother, "this isn't an accident, this is an attack."

We grew up in Bergen County, NJ, just about 40 minutes outside Manhattan. We grew up crossing the George Washington Bridge to either get into NYC or on our way to family in Queens or Long Island. We constantly saw the WTC in the distance on these trips. When I was a child, my Dad took me to WTC 1, and we went to the 80th floor. I remember looking out the windows and being mildly scared that there clouds below us.

As we continued to watch smoke pouring out of both WTC buildings, the anchors on CNN said they had just gotten a report that there was another plane attack, this time at the Pentagon. Neither my brother or I knew what to say at that point. I do remember saying to my brother "The death toll is going to be huge, it's the start of the work day, and thousands of people work there."

A short time later, my bedroom phone rang and it was someone from my job. (I worked security at a local community college) They wanted as many of us to come into work to try and help the students stay calm. As I was up on the 3rd floor of one building, I could actually see the smoke off in the distance.

On my way to work, i had a news radio station based in NYC on in my car. I stopped for a red light and heard my favorite anchor say "The second tower has now collapsed, the World Trade Center is no more." What? The buildings we grew up seeing as we crossed from NJ to NY and back were now gone. It didn't make sense, even though I knew what happened.

When I eventually got home from work, my parents said the few people we knew who worked in the WTC, were not there that day. One decided to take a day off and the others worked at their company's NJ Offices. We were still in a combination of shock and "how many thousands of people are dead?"

My Great Uncle passed away on September 10th, and he and my Great Aunt lived in Queens. Despite everything that happened, a wake and funeral had already been planned, prior to 9/11.

As we went to Queens the following day, it was a rough trip. Every vehicle was being stopped by law enforcement to be checked for explosives underneath them. As we finally did cross the George Washington Bridge, we looked to our right and saw the massive cloud of smoke and debris hanging over that area of the city. It was a sad and scary sight to see. For 25 years I have said it was a blessing my Great Uncle died the day before. He was such a loving man, watching 9/11 happen, would have killed him. I also say that God needed help welcoming the victims to heaven, so he chose my Great Uncle to help.

As the days in the aftermath, we started seeing lists of all the victims of the WTC, who had been identified, in our local newspaper. Then came the list of the 343 FDNY who had lost their lives trying to save whomever they could. The TV channels which were all based in NYC, didn't air much other than Ground Zero footage. Watching it was heartbreaking, seeing first responders carry covered bodies of those who were lost.

I had 2 friends who were both Firemen (one was also a EMT) (and the other's birthday is 9/11)who were called to go into NYC to help however they could. I had a friend from college who was with the NYPD. Several years later, I became friends with another man who was also NYPD, he was coming out of a tunnel just in time to see the second plane hit. Even though he was coming off of a midnight tour, he knew he and his partner had to get to the WTC ASAP. My friend would go on to be stationed at Ground Zero for four months.

My parents friend and fellow Psychologist was deployed about 3 days after 9/11, into Ground Zero as part of a Phoenix Team. Those teams provide mental health help during disasters. Once he rotated out of NYC and took some time to even fathom what he saw, he called my parents. He told them "I have been to the gates of hell. Everything is still glowing red and some things are still on fire. And in six months, there isn't going to be enough of us Mental Health Providers along the eastern seaboard to help those who survived and all of the first responders." Our church knew my parents are Psychologists, so the pastor asked if they would do a "Q&A" about how parents should talk with their kids about what happened and how to best reassure them they will be safe.

Three weeks later, we flew to Chicago to see my brother, and our home airport is Newark NJ. We saw LE and members of the Military walking through the terminal with rifles. We stopped at a coffee place and my parents bought coffees and i got a small container of Orange Juice. As we went toward the gate areas, we were stopped by U.S. Marshals. The Deputy Marshal took my Mom's coffee, took the lid off and smelled it. Then he told her to take a sip and not move until he said so. Another Deputy Marshal did the same thing to my Dad, and the one who stopped my Mom, did the same thing to me and my juice. When we got to Chicago, it was so different from being in NJ, because in NJ, just about every vehicle and building had an American Flag on it in some way. Every where you went, all you heard people talking about was the attacks and if they knew anyone who worked in the WTC. People treated each other better and with more kindness, because we couldn't allow the hate from the hijackers come out toward one another. Plus, given our geographical location, you never knew if a person you were chatting with at the grocery store, a coffee shop, or anywhere else, had lost someone they loved.

Life didn't exactly return to "normal" as the weeks and months slowly moved on. The news would report how many FDNY funerals there were each day. How many civilian funerals there were. Then there were the experts on the news trying to explain how they thought the WTC Buildings ended up collapsing . Who were these attackers, why did they do it etc. As Christmastime approached, the malls all had security walking around and into and out of stores. According to them, there was "chatter" that a shopping mall would be next on the list of sites to attack.

I say this with no ill intent, but unless you were in close proximity to the WTC, Pentagon, or in PA where flight 93 crashed( but especially the WTC), you don't have the same level of how 9/11 impacted you. My friend who was NYPD lost 13 friends just on 9/11 alone, and there is no counting how many more he's lost since. If you grew up or lived in the Tri-State area (NJ, NY, CT) you saw the almost 24 hours a day news coverage, that also covered how many cars of victims were still parked in the bus or train lots. You had been in NYC at least once, if not more. My Dad used to take me to the Museum of Natural History as a kid. We went to Yankee games, my parents loved Broadway shows, so we would go see a show, and go out to dinner after.

You knew someone who had a loved one who either escaped or was killed in the WTC. You spent time pouring over the lists in the newspapers of those lost to make certain you didn't miss the death of someone you knew, even casually.

The WTC was a part of NYC 's identity, part of the skyline of NYC and off in the distance also NJ's. And then in moments of horror, they were gone forever. Every time it's a sunny day, and I see an airplane, even 25 years later, it still reminds me of 9/11. Thank you to all those who responded, and got right to work looking for survivors, those who came in from many states to help the NYPD and FDNY locate bodies, the passengers of Flight 93 who crashed that plane on purpose to save our Nation's Capital, to those in the FAA had to close American airspace completely and then figure out where to send planes, while not fully aware if there were more terrorist planes in the air, to those employees of companies in the WTC, who took care of each other and did escape, or gave their lives to help someone else escape, the Pentagon Employees who did the same. One of the things I hate is when people die in fear, which is what happened to all those passengers on the planes, and those trapped in the Pentagon and the WTC. May all those who lost their lives on 9/11, and in the years since, continue to Rest in Peace, and may their families have found some comfort and peace.