As this year unfolds toward the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the impact of that day continues to shape lives, families, and our nation.
I begin this season of remembrance with gratitude, thanking God for giving me life and sustaining it over these decades so I can continue to be of service to families who still carry the weight of that morning.
The tragedy of 9/11 did not end when the smoke cleared. We have lost more people since then to 9/11-related illnesses than we lost on that day itself. For many families, the attack remains an ongoing wound.
In the earliest days after the towers fell, I worked in family assistance centers with people whose lives had been shattered in an instant. I remember the quiet courage it took for families to submit DNA, hoping for answers no one ever wants to need.
More than 1,000 victims from the World Trade Center have still never been identified. I know personally what it means to lose someone you love without the ability to see them, to say goodbye, or to confirm what your heart already knows.
That absence leaves a profound psychological and spiritual burden that most people are fortunate never to experience.
So much about life changed after September 11. For those of us who remember the world before, it can feel like another lifetime. For younger generations, it is all they have ever known.
Yet even amid loss, I witnessed something extraordinary: young men and women stepping forward to serve in the armed forces, standing up for this country when it was wounded and vulnerable. That response speaks to the deepest substance of America, and it is a debt we can never fully repay.
My mission since those days has been rooted in one word: purpose. I have learned that healing happens most powerfully when people are connected to one another.
That belief gave rise to the “WE REMEMBER WALKS,” where families walk together carrying photographs of those they lost. Often there are no speeches. Sometimes there are no words at all.
In that silence, I have witnessed what I can only describe as profound internal healing—people standing beside someone who truly understands their pain.
I have seen that same healing after tragedies in Washington, Shanksville, Oklahoma City, Parkland, and Las Vegas. It is a gift from God that cannot be fully explained, only witnessed.
As we move toward this 25th anniversary, we will once again hold “WE REMEMBER WALKS” and continue outreach to families across the country.
At the same time, I am determined to confront another crisis that steals life from our communities: suicide. I am tired of suicide killing us. We must defeat it at every turn.
In the end, my promise remains the same. As long as I am here, I am available.
If anything good can come from September 11, let it be this: that love outlasts terror, connection outlasts despair, and even from tragedy, healing can still walk among us.