Today, September 11th, I'm thankful for what I do have, and what I don't have, to remember.

I don't have to remember this day as the day I personally lost a loved one.

I don't have to remember this day as the day my own city was terrorized.

I don't have to remember this day as a lived trauma of smoke and ash and fire and fear.

But I do have things to remember.

I was only in Kindergarten, yet one memory is still clear.

Mom picked me up from class and whisked me home.
I sat on our living room floor with the TV in front of me and I watched the world burn.
I didn't understand what was happening.
My mother wept behind me.

In both places I've called home, I've lived next to an airport.

To this day, sometimes I have a fleeting thought of "what if this plane is headed to crash into something" when I hear it whoosh overhead.

What must so many others still feel?

Today is a somber day.
For the city that burned 19 years ago in an act of evil terrorism, and for the world we can't ignore that burns today in horrific wildfires.

It is right to remember.
It is right to mourn.
It is right to grieve.
It is right to pray.
And it is right to count our blessings, too.

Thank you, first responders and relief teams.
Thank you, brave protectors and service members of this country.
Thank you, activists and change-makers who work for a better today and a better tomorrow.
Thank you, prayer warriors and unsung heroes who humbly serve without acclaim.