Today is Tuesday, December 11th. Three months ago today, it was also just another Tuesday the 11th – September 11th. And even now, exactly ninety-two days after the day that changed everything – the events of that dark day still constantly haunt me as if it happened yesterday – because all that day was supposed to be was just another Tuesday.

On the morning of September 11th, thousands of people went to work at the World Trade Center like they have every other Tuesday. Their goal that day? To pursue the American dream. To earn a living. To raise a family. Whether they were black, white, Asian, Jewish, Haitian, Italian – or Arab-American, it didn’t matter – because they were all hard working Americans just trying to do their job.

And just a few hours away in Washington, D.C., workers at the Pentagon also headed to work that morning to do what they did everyday – keep this country’s military operations running. Like their brothers and sisters in New York City, they were also trying to pursue the American Dream, earn a living and raise a family. And just like it was to those in the World Trade Center on September 11th – it was just another Tuesday.

It was also just another Tuesday for passengers of four airplanes: American Airlines Flight 11, United Airlines Flight 175, American Airlines Flight 77, and United Airlines Flight 93. As they boarded the planes, these hundreds of passengers simply wanted to reach their destinations to conduct business, go on vacation – or see loved ones.

But on the morning of that fateful day – that “just another Tuesday the 11th” – each and everyone of those people who were strangers just the day before – were about to become united in infamy – and united in history. For on that morning, terrorists turned the lives of the people in the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, those four airplanes – and everywhere else in the world upside down when they decided to change the fabric of human existence – by orchestrating the worst act of terrorism in the history of our world.

I can still remember each and every detail that I experienced that morning. From the sounds of my friends screaming at me to go to the window to see the damage from the first plane – to the sound of the first Tower collapsing. Images and sounds that I heard that day also play over and over again in my head as clear as when they actually occurred – as does the smells of the fire, the destruction – and the bodies, which are forever burned into my memory.

While I may have walked away from the buildings without any physical injuries – the mental scars I received that day will never heal. From losing Doug, to almost losing my own life, to watching others lose theirs – what I experienced that morning is something that I will never be able to forget – and will be something I think about each and every day for the rest of my life.

In addition to destroying the World Trade Center and a portion of the Pentagon, the terrorists who carried out that cowardly act accomplished something else they didn’t plan on – they forever altered the daily existence of each and every American – and this country as a whole. From being afraid to fly, to worrying about opening our mail – to anticipating another attack – the old adage of, “It Can’t Happen Here” is gone – as is the safe and immune feeling we all had on September 10th. But besides the negative changes that was bestowed upon all Americans as a result of that day – many positive changes emerged as a result of the September 11th attacks. As soon as it was apparent that we were under attack – America united. Almost instantly – strangers helped strangers, blacks helped whites, Jews helped Arabs – and Americans helped Americans. From donating blood, to giving money, to providing supplies – to simply standing on the side of the West Side Highway and cheering on the heroes that drove toward Ground Zero rather then away from it – everyone was a hero that day – and have been for the past ninety-two days.

So as we mark this tragic anniversary by pausing to remember those that we lost and try and remember what life was like before this atrocity – we should also pause to remember the unity that this country experienced during our darkest moment – and have continued to experienced since the last time it was just another Tuesday the 11th.