THE 24th ANNIVERSARY OF THE 9-11 TRAGEDY BY NIKKI HOFFMAN

Flying at night isn't my favorite activity. But with a nine-hour business trip from the West Palm Beach airport to São Paulo, Brazil, it seemed like the best choice. The plane touched down in the morning light of September 11, 2001.

Upon arriving, I took a taxi to the hotel. I entered the lobby, thinking about the meetings scheduled for the day. A guest watched a black-and-white television from the back of the room, seemingly completely mesmerized by what was on the screen.

Behind the check-in counter, a young girl examined my passport. “Have you heard what happened?” she whispered in broken English. “A terrible crash. Speak to the American sitting by the television.”

On the small screen, towers collapsed into smoke and debris after a plane rammed through the upper floors. At first, my mind thought it was a bad movie. I half expected a giant, mechanical monster to emerge behind the clouds of dust. The guest, a fellow American, was glued to the broadcast and explained what was happening. Nothing in my lifetime had prepared me to accept a terrorist attack on American soil. Wasn’t our country sacrosanct? Weren’t we raised with a strong sense of safety and invincibility in these United States?

It took ten days for my flight on an international carrier to be cleared to return. As Americans on board, we spoke softly to each other, trying to understand or accept this profound tragedy. On 9-11, I am reminded of our American resilience as well as the human cost of this disaster that still echoes twenty-four years later. What was your experience? How have these events changed you?