From the Day Terrorists Attacked My Neighborhood to Now

I've never felt more female than the day I gave birth to my daughter. And I have never felt more human than the day I stood with my neighbors and watched the Twin Towers across the street from our homes burn and fall.

I never thought I would be in a position to feel the level of powerlessness someone feels as they watch thousands of lives end.

I never thought I would feel lucky to have my family survive an international incident on my block. I never imagined I would experience the sensation of running for my life with my daughter in my arms. I never thought I would be evacuated from my home or that my daughter's school would turn into an Emergency Command Center, and the school beside hers a morgue.

I never dreamed that the opening of The Wonderful World of Disney show when Tinkerbell flies over the Magic Kingdom and sets off fireworks with her wand would be the only visual paradigm to capture the exploding silver façade of the second tower as it slowly came down glistening in the sun.

I never thought I would see fighter jets screaming over my head and wondering with thousands of others looking up at them, if they were ours.

I never thought I would have cause to feel so profoundly connected to my city and to my country.

And I never thought my leaders would squander the internationally unifying power of those moments.