August 11th, 2001

with edits

A couple of weeks ago, a radio station in Long Island reached out to me via Instagram inviting me to be a guest on their morning show in honor of the 25th anniversary of 9/11. At first, I felt a little confused because in my mind, I was thinking there was no way it had been 25 years. But then I did a little mathing, and I realized when you subtract 2001 from 2026, the answer is, in fact, 25.

For most of the last 25 years, I have written, reflected or spoken about the anniversary of September 11th—a responsibility, a privilege, a downright blessing given to me that I never expected.

On the 18th of this month, there will be 25 days leading up to the 25th anniversary, and because while numbers confound me, they also intrigue me, I have decided to share a journal series reflecting on how the milestones felt and how I changed with each passing year.