Week 4: Anniversary Appreciation

The 18th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on bustling New York City, the capital of our great nation in Washington DC, a peaceful field in Pennsylvania, and every freedom-lover across the globe took place this week Wednesday, September 11.

Like everyone else, where I was, who I was with, and what I was doing is forever engraved on my heart. Leaving my office, walking down Wisconsin Avenue in Milwaukee towards my car, hugging a loved one with tears streaming down my face was like something out of a movie.

The tragedy of that day was felt especially strong in my family; my father was a Captain on the fire department in St. Francis, the city I grew up in, for 40 years, and then a volunteer on the department in Belgium for another decade.

When I saw the first tower fall, my heart sank.

Just as I do for every car crash, building fire, and other cause for alarm, when I saw the towers fall, my initial thought was for those brave souls climbing UP, knowing they had just come tumbling down.

The firefighter community is a tight one. I didn't just have one dad looking out for me, keeping tabs of my whereabouts, making sure I wasn't in trouble, growing up. I had 12 guys doing that in my small town, a dozen guys and their families who I could turn to, whose lives were intertwined with mine.

And I thought of them, and the family of firefighters in NYC on September 11, 2001. And I think of them all on each anniversary.

This week's Kindness Countdown activity was to make a "THANK YOU" sign and drop it off with a couple dozen black & white cookies for our local volunteer fire department.

The two volunteers there when my children and I arrived asked what organization we were with so they could reach out and thank them. My daughter said, "We just thought it would be a nice thing to do."

"My father was a fire fighter for many decades," I added.

Our eyes met and we nodded. There was no mention of 9/11. We didn't need to say the words. I think we both understood the inspiration for delivering sweets on that specific day.

And then we smiled and got a tour of the incredible fire department in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.

What an impressive one it is! And this is coming from someone who has visited countless fire departments across the country (my dad's department had a wall of patches on display growing up, and we'd pick up a handful of them each year on our travels).

It was a pleasure to spend some time at our department, hear stories from the volunteers, look at the large collection of antique gear, and share our gratitude with them.

They're true heroes!