Do you remember where you were on Tuesday September 11th 2001? This is my story; and if you're reading this post you're likely old enough to have some memories from that infamous day.

It's almost impossible for you not to remember what you were doing on that beautiful sunny Tuesday morning. My daughter was just starting first grade and I was one of the class moms preparing for the upcoming Back-to-School class night. I dropped her off and chatted with some of the other moms I was friendly with and then walked back to my car.

Much to the surprise of many, I have always been a fan of Howard Stern and his radio show was what I turned on when I got to my car. He was doing an interview when one of his producers came into the room and stated that a small plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. A lot of conversation ensued about the type of plane it must've been and it was determined it had to be a Cessna, which is a small two seater airplane. Several callers began dialing in to state their belief of it being a much larger plane. At that point I changed the station and tuned into CBS Radio where reporters were confirming it was in fact a commercial airplane not a small Cessna.

I quickly rushed back to my store so I could watch some coverage on television, and the event was being shown on a loop over and over again. It was as if it had to be shown that way in order for it to sink in that this was real. Every network had their own speculations about how this happened, why this happened, but it was still very surreal and I couldn't stop watching.

I remember calling my mom, who had retired from the Port Authority where she worked in the World Trade Center for over 20 years. She retired just before the bombing in the parking garage at the World Trade Center six years earlier and she still had many colleagues that worked in the law department in the World Trade Center. My sister who was the 1st black female police officer at the Port Authority had also luckily retired prior to this catastrophe. We were a Port Authority family, from the days of it being called The Port of New York Authority which was located at 111 8th Ave at 14th St in New York City, through the name change to Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

I vividly remember the twin towers being constructed. I recall climbing on top of the sand piles preparing to be dredged to accommodate the new towers and watching the parade of tall ships sail into Manhattan for July 4th celebrations. Once the buildings were completed, my sister and I would visit our mom at work so frequently, they knew us by name in the massive cafeteria on the 44th floor. We were always told that the creaking and slight sway of the building was intentional due to the height and structure. We had so many visual memories of the awesome vistas, the observation deck and restaurant Windows on the World were spectacular and unforgettable. The design of the building and the art structures throughout were just beautiful. The ground floor was a huge street level and underground mall with shops that opened at 7:00 am for the thousands of workers who commuted there every day. Subways, PATH trains, new hotels and more stores all feeding into the enormous building, it was always busy and packed with people rushing to the enormous elevator banks. It was a mammoth, beautiful unforgettable structure so when this "accident" happened, my family was really shaken.

Once I spoke to both my mom and sister that day, they were both very upset about people they knew who still worked in the World Trade Center. I went to pick my daughter up from school because they were about to enforce a lockdown and explained to her the best way possible about the disaster while reassuring her that we would be fine, when in fact I really didn't know what would be in this new world we were thrust into.

The immediate days and months afterwards were uncertain and frightening, no one knew when or how the next attack might be. Life completely changed as we'd known it, we became suspicious, nervous and vulnerable. At the time it felt like we'd never have the full sense of safety, freedom and security that we all enjoyed previously. However we very slowly adjusted over time and recalibrated to the new normal, always pausing annually to sorrowfully reflect and remember the horrific event that changed our lives forever.

This is my story, a very abridged version of very long process to what became the new normal decades ago. So even if you don't have the personal memories that I have, you should always remember where you were, how your life was, and the thousands of innocent people who perished that beautiful Tuesday morning.

Never Forget September 11th