A few months ago, I went to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. I went on a whim and didn’t realize it’s been almost 20 years since the attacks until a few minutes ago. Being there in person was the first time I ever felt a location that had a distinct and palpable energy. The whole vibe of the place was just really heavy and incredibly heartbreaking. The 9/11 Monument’s fountains were built in the exact place where the original two towers once stood. The names of all 2800+ victims were listed on the barrier around each monument. The Monument’s waterfall was perhaps meant to symbolize the tears shed for all the lives lost that day, and yet it is still not enough.

On this day, the 20th anniversary of the 9/11, I can’t help but wonder how far we’ve come. Or rather, I ask if we’ve come far enough? Do we feel any safer? Have we made the world a better place? Are we able to trust our neighbors next door and across the shores? Being in New York at the time of the attacks, I remember the panic, terror, and bewilderment that my city’s people experienced. It was a collective trauma that was then felt the world over. But I also saw my city’s best. First responders risking their lives to save innocents. Civilians risking their lives to help the first responders. An entire country coming together for a sense of what I can only describe as being unity. For a minute, it felt real. Flags outside everyone’s homes. People saying they love America and feared the threat that terror presented to our freedoms. New York especially came together, and I could’ve swore it was so real. It must have been real. I saw it in the first two Spider-Man movies.

I think about where we were then, and how we got to where we are now. What steps lead us to such vitriolic divisiveness? When did we start hating each other? When did we start sucker-punching our neighbors and running away? What steps led us to cutting people out of our lives due to differences in ideals? Or has it always been this way? It seems that almost 20 years later, I’m left with more questions than I’ll ever have answers. And that’s when that delicious, Bo Burnham-esque cocktail of doom and ennui sets in.

Thankfully, this is where the beauty of the 9/11 Museum comes in. As much as it commemorates the events and details of that day, it does so much more to honor the people that were involved. From the victims in the towers, to the passengers on the planes, to the pedestrians down below, and most of all, the first responders. These people’s bravery, duty, love, honor, and righteousness was beyond inspiring. It was genuinely moving to the point of tears. The museum was curated to show their efforts, struggles, and sacrifices. Reading their stories, seeing their clothing, hearing their voices, seeing their faces… it made everything too real.

Thus after viewing all this through a 20 year old lens, the fact remained evidently clear that past all the bullshit, money, politics, sex, race, religion, etc., we are all people with families we love and dreams we’ve yet to dream. On September 11th, 2001 we all witnessed 2800+ innocent lives tragically lose their right to live, love, and continue dreaming. This not counting all the lives that were changed instantaneously, either through proximity or association.

If you ever get a chance, go to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. Say their names, see their faces, and hear their stories. I think if enough people do this, we all just might remember why we banded together in the first place, 20 years ago.