June 10. February 21. December 14. May 9. July 20.
I'd also have to include September 11, 2011... and of course, September 11, 2001.
The pictures and memories of 9-11 have already started to pop up on Facebook and Twitter, as we all remember the day that knocked America on its back.
We were a broken and bleeding country then; in some ways, we still are. I was 13, an eighth-grader sitting in math class when I heard the news. 20 minutes later, I watched one of the towers fall on live television.
That was a defining moment in my childhood. I witnessed part of an attack on the country I love dearly, knowing that hundreds, thousands of people died in the rubble. I was far away, but I could see that block of NYC clearly from my visit just a few years earlier. Just thinking about seeing it in person before and after breaks my heart.
Ten years later, I was a 23-year-old college graduate, trying to make it in the TV business. My best friend had come to visit me for a big football game, and I was determined not to focus on the anniversary.
We were crazy; driving several hours for the game, tailgating most of the day, and then I drove all night to be up for work the next morning. I had to drop her off at the Detroit airport first.. early on the morning of September 11, 2011.
This exact moment two years ago, I was sitting in an Ann Arbor apartment, figuring out the best way to the airport. Then we stopped for pizza at an all-night place, and headed to the drop-off by 4am. I remember telling Jessica to be careful. God forbid some crazy person try something stupid on such a major anniversary. It was almost eerie letting her go.
I didn't know at the time that it would be the last time I saw her.
My heart feels heavier just thinking about it. A haunting feeling of not wanting her to go, and now realizing there was more than one reason why.
September 11 will never be just another day on the calendar. It will always mark a day my generation lost part of its innocence, and my last hug from my best friend.
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