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Twenty-five years later, I still believe the day after 9/11 has something important to teach us about who we can be together.

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Twenty-five years later, I still believe the day after 9/11 has something important to teach us about who we can be together.

Today is September 12th.

Every year, this date brings me back to September 12, 2001—the day after our country was changed forever.

I find myself watching the old videos again. Reading the stories. Looking at the faces.

And every year, I feel it.

Sometimes deeply.

Sometimes through tears.

We remember September 11, as we should. We remember the lives lost, the families changed forever, and the firefighters, police officers, emergency workers, military personnel, airline crews, passengers, and countless others who were affected by that terrible day.

But I also remember what happened on September 12th.

For a brief moment, America seemed to remember something incredibly important:

We were people first.

We weren’t asking one another which political party we belonged to.

We weren’t defining ourselves by our politics, our jobs, our companies, or the groups we identified with.

In aviation, we weren’t saying, I work for this airline or I work for that company.

Those identities didn’t disappear. They simply weren’t the most important thing anymore.

We were brothers and sisters.

We were Americans.

We were human beings standing together.

I remember the flags.

The silence.

The sadness.

The uncertainty.

But I also remember people helping strangers, comforting one another, and reaching across whatever differences existed between them.

There was a sense that we needed each other—and that we understood it.

Twenty-five years later, I wonder what happened to that feeling.

We’ve become so accustomed to defining ourselves by our differences. Political parties. Ideologies. Organizations. Companies. Social-media tribes.

We can be quick to assume the worst about someone simply because they disagree with us.

But behind every opinion is a person.

Someone with a family.

Someone carrying their own struggles, hopes, fears, and losses.

Maybe that’s one of the lessons September 12th left us.

We don’t have to agree on everything to stand together.

We can disagree and still show compassion.

We can debate without dehumanizing.

We can be different without becoming divided.

This morning, I went back and watched some of those videos from September 12, 2001.

I’ll give you a little warning if you do the same:

There may be tears.

There certainly are for me.

For 25 years, these dates have brought a lot of emotion. I don’t think we need to apologize for that. Sometimes tears are simply proof that we remember—and that we cared.

So today, I want to encourage you to go back.

Watch some of those old videos.

Read the stories from September 12th.

Look at the faces of ordinary Americans who, for a moment, remembered that they were part of something bigger than themselves.

And then ask yourself:

What would happen if we found some of that spirit again?

Not because we all agree.

Not because our differences have disappeared.

But because we decide that our shared humanity matters more than our divisions.

Maybe that’s the stand we need to take today.

Not against one another.

For one another.

September 12, 2001, showed me what was possible.

Twenty-five years later, I still believe it.

Maybe it’s time we remember.

Maybe it’s time we come together again.

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Notes From Alex

Sometimes history doesn’t just tell us where we’ve been.

Sometimes it reminds us of who we can still choose to become.