I remember 25 years ago.

I had just had my first baby 6.5 weeks before.

I had just turned 22.

I had stopped up at the clinic in the small town where I lived. I worked as a medical transcriptionist there but was currently on maternity leave.

I remember them gathering around a little TV or radio, listening for details.

Then going back home and turning on the TV and sitting in shock at what was being shown.

Thankfully, we had Tuesday night Bible Study at Linda Hoogendyk’s, so my sister-in-law Jen and I still went. The best place to be! We read the truth of God’s Word, and we prayed out loud. And it helped calm everyone’s hearts and minds.

I remember everyone chatting about the fear of a gas shortage and seeing cars lined up down streets in Mankato trying to get gas that night.

We decided to go back to the little cooperative in Mapleton and fill up there, just in case.

But I remember some of the thoughts I had.

What would the world look like after today?

Why did I just have a baby for this to happen?

What kind of world would he grow up in?

After the one-year anniversary of Charlie’s death yesterday, and now the 25-year anniversary of this tragic day, I feel a heaviness of grief.

That the world has been a harder place. That it was a pivotal point in a lot of our minds!

Tragedy has an odd way of bringing temporary unity, but then a drifting off and a division that leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

A reminder that we live in a very fallen and sinful world. A world that is lost and needs salvation through Jesus Christ more than ever.

And yet, even today, as I wake up and scroll through my social media, I am reading stories that I have never heard before.

Heroes who stopped hijacked planes, and people who heroically helped rescue people from the Twin Towers. And as I read the stories with tears streaming down my face, I often wonder if I should be reading this.

And then I realize that there is a healing in the tears. A healing in reading about humanity stepping up to be heroes when they are faced with the decision. And that also is a balm to the pain of the loss!

So read a few stories, cry a few tears, because the worst thing would be to forget!