Today is the anniversary of 9/11, it’s been 20 years since all of our lives changed. Wow 20 years and I can still remember it as if it was yesterday.

I know we all remember exactly where we were on this tragic moment.

I of course was on the treadmill at the gym, this was before I started writing this blog and back then I used to watch TV to keep myself entertained.

As I was running and watching The Today show I saw the footage. At first we thought it was a preview of an upcoming movie. I made the TV louder and saw a look of panic on Matt Lauder’s face, he was almost speechless… we all stopped to listen as he said the words that would change our lives forever.

“The World Trade Center has been hit by a plane”

The gym was silent…everyone ran to see the Tv’s, we couldn’t believe what we were hearing, you heard whispers, what happened? Does anyone know?

As we were glued to the television trying to figure out what happened, in front of our eyes, we watched as the other plane hit the other tower.

We all screamed, we started to cry, we all knew this was no accident, this was a act of terrorism.

As I am writing this 20 years later, I am crying remembering how I felt at that exact moment.

The world, my world, our world had changed forever in that second.

We all stood there, we couldn’t move, men, women and children all with tears running down their faces. We were scared, heartbroken, unsure of the safety of our country.

We watched the images of people jumping out of the towers. We watched people running out of the buildings bleeding, hurt, with looks of terror on their faces but what we saw that we will never be forgotten is the brave men and women of the New York police and Fire department running inside the building as it was blazing.

As everyone was running out these incredible brave people were running in to save, serve and protect us.

We were still glued to the television as we watched Tower 1 go down. An audible gasp was heard throughout the gym.

Yet we still couldn’t leave, we stood there shocked…time stood still for all of us. No one was thinking about going to work, or finishing their workouts as we were all too stunned.

We watched people running, clouds of smoke so thick that you couldn’t see, for blocks these clouds went on. Debris and bodies falling out of where the tower use to be, and paper, lots and lots of paper drifting down from the sky…

And yet there was silence in the gym because we were too stunned to believe what we were seeing…

Moments later we watched Tower 2 go down…it had to be one of the saddest days we had ever known.

Being a New Yorker, I have been in those buildings many times.

I knew how big they were, how many people worked in them, how many lives were lost that day…our hearts were breaking…

Would America ever be the same?

As we continued to stand there, we learned of the other losses in the pentagon and the other plane that went down in the field. The lives of so many innocent victims across the country. Our world changed forever that day, it would never be the same…

So today my friends, we remember all the people that were taken far too soon, we remember the brave NYPD and NYFD that never stopped serving and protecting us even till the end.

I am a new yorker, I will always be a New Yorker!

I am proud of everyone who stood up, who helped, who showed the world what New Yorkers are truly made of!

And today we give a moment of silence and prayer…a moment of thanks and a moment of remembrance to all of those people whose lives were lost.

We will never forget this day, the day that changed the world forever.

“Be the change you want to see”

@Treadmilltreats