9

It is hard to believe that it has been nine years since September 11, 2001. While I personally didn't lose any friends or family members that day, I still remember that awful feeling of seeing the Pentagon burning, planes crashing into the World Trade Center towers, and people evacuating across the Brooklyn Bridge on foot.

A lot has changed in my life in the past nine years. At the time, I was working as an EMT in Arizona and had come into work early that morning as a favor to a co-worker on the previous shift. It was still dark outside, and everyone else in the ambulance station was still sleeping. It was almost 6 am, and I had just finished watching a movie on TV and switched over to the news to see all the madness and confusion. Gradually, my partner and other co-workers came in for our shift. The entire day was spent glued to the television when we weren't out running calls.

What started out as an ordinary day turned into a defining moment for so many people. It is unfortunate that this year so much media coverage was drawn by a hatemonger not deserving of attention. I hope that friends and family members of both those who gave their lives and those who were victims by chance have found some healing. Hopefully, in years to come, September 11 will be less about uniting against Muslims, and more about uniting as a country.