Seven Years

Somewhere, in my box of photograph albums and stacks of pictures, there is a photo taken of me, dated May 11, 2001. I'm wearing jean shorts and an Ocean Pacific white shirt with a palm tree on the front. I am 14 years old, and my back is to the New York City skyline. The World Trade Center towers are prominent, and my mom, the photographer, made sure not to cut off the tops of them in the picture. Who would have guessed that exactly 4 months later, those towers would be reduced to rubble, and the New York City skyline would never be the same again.

Never forget...