I was eight years old when the planes struck WTC. I didn't understand any of it, except that I wanted the news to go away. I was a child.

I've never been a patriotic person. I've never cried for 9/11. I've never ached for those lost.

I'm 18 now. I watch these clips. I read the stories. I see the pictures.

I cry. I ache. I empathize.

I miss those who are lost, and I will never forget them. America was shattered in one day. And by the next day, we were united. We stood strong.

That day, those people.

Never forgotten.