Dear friend,
24 years ago, at 8:46 AM, time stopped.
A father named Michael kissed his 4-year-old daughter goodbye and promised to read her a bedtime story that night. He never came home. She still has the book on her nightstand.
A mother named Jennifer called her husband from the 94th floor to say "I love you" one last time before the line went dead. He still saves her voicemails.
A son named David was supposed to take his mom to dinner for her 65th birthday that weekend. The reservation sat empty. She still sets a place for him at every family meal.
2,977 heartbeats stopped that day. 2,977 futures erased. 2,977 families shattered into a million pieces.
But then came heroes.
343 firefighters ran into buildings that were collapsing around them. They could have run away. They could have saved themselves. Instead, they climbed those stairs knowing they might never come down.
Father Mychal Judge, the FDNY chaplain, died giving last rites to a fallen firefighter and became the first recorded victim because even in death, he was serving others.
Captain Patrick Brown radioed "We're in the stairwell, we can hear people above us" before his voice went silent forever. Lieutenant Joseph Leavey was found clutching his radio, still trying to coordinate rescues as the tower came down on top of him.
37 police officers died that day, but not before they evacuated thousands. Officer John Perry had just filed his retirement papers that morning. Instead of going home, he ran toward the towers. His last act was directing people to safety.
The passengers on Flight 93 knew they were going to die.
Todd Beamer said, "Let's roll," and led a charge against terrorists with his bare hands. Lisa Beamer was pregnant with their daughter, who would never meet her daddy but would grow up knowing he died a hero. Jeremy Glick called his wife and said, "We're going to do something." Sandra Bradshaw, a flight attendant, was boiling water to throw at the hijackers. They chose to die fighting rather than let more innocents perish.
And then, when our nation was bleeding and broken, something miraculous happened.
We became one family.
Firefighters from across the country drove through the night to help dig through rubble with their bare hands until their fingers bled. They worked 20-hour shifts pulling bodies from the wreckage, weeping for brothers they'd never met.
Strangers stood in line for 6 hours to donate blood. Churches, synagogues, and mosques opened their doors to anyone who needed comfort. People drove from hundreds of miles away just to stand at Ground Zero and pray.
Construction workers volunteered for weeks without pay, sleeping in their trucks, refusing to go home while there was still hope of finding someone alive. Therapy dogs traveled from across America to comfort rescue workers who were breaking down from the horror of what they were seeing.
A nation united. We were Americans, and Americans don't let Americans grieve alone.
Children drew pictures of firefighters with angel wings. Entire schools made cards for families they'd never met. Communities raised millions of dollars for widows and orphans. Baseball players cried singing the national anthem. Even our enemies paused in respect.
The terrorists thought they were watching America die that day. Instead, they watched America be reborn.
9/11 taught us that our greatest preparation isn't the food we store or the supplies we gather. It's the love we share and the way we show up for each other when everything falls apart.
Today, somewhere, a daughter is visiting her father's name on a memorial wall, tracing the letters with her finger and whispering, "I still need you, Daddy."
Today, a widow is watching old home videos, listening to her husband's laugh one more time. Today, a mother is looking at her son's picture and wondering what kind of grandfather he would have been.
Today, we remember not just their loss, but their love.
The terrorists took our buildings. But they gave us something they never intended. They showed us how much we mean to each other.
They reminded us that ordinary people are capable of extraordinary courage. They proved that love is stronger than hate, that hope is more powerful than fear, and that Americans will always, always run toward the fire to save each other.
Hold your babies tighter today. Call your parents. Tell your spouse you love them. Because 2,977 families learned on September 11th that "see you later" sometimes means "see you in heaven."
We are still here. We are still strong. We are still united. And we will never, ever forget.
Never forgotten. Forever loved. Always American. 🇺🇸
The Valley Food Storage Family
