On 9/11, I had just graduated from college and gotten married the summer before. I was working in Indiana while my wife finished college. When the news came, everything seemed to stop. It was as though the nation had been pushed back on its heels. Everyone at the factory gathered in the break room as the planes continued to fall. My thoughts immediately turned to family and friends. After work, I called my parents in Ohio just to check in and know all was okay. With family ties to Cape May and connections to people in New York and Washington, the tragedy felt frighteningly close to home. This was such a surreal moment in our country and should not be forgotten.