To Gen Z: I know 9/11 is something you learned about in a textbook. But for those of us who lived through it, it is a…

To Gen Z: I know 9/11 is something you learned about in a textbook. But for those of us who lived through it, it is a day we can still feel. Twenty-five years later, I want to tell you what that horrible day was actually like through my own memories. A thread. #911Remembrance #911neverforget

I was 21 years old and having the time of my life in Hollywood. I had been out clubbing the night before and, if I remember correctly, had even hung out with Prince at the club. I genuinely thought the world was my oyster. The next morning, very hungover 🥴 my hot pink Nokia rang. It was my mother. “You need to turn on the TV right now.” I turned it on, and my heart just dropped. Everything changed in that moment. #911Remembrance #911neverforget

When I turned on the TV, the first plane had already hit. Nobody had actually watched that happen live. The news coverage started afterward, and all I saw was smoke, damage, dust and people running everywhere. I was completely confused and trying to understand what had even happened. Then, while I was watching live, the second plane hit. That was when everything changed. I remember hearing someone on the news say, “America is under attack.” I immediately started wondering if Los Angeles was next. I was terrified. I just sat there glued to the TV, watching it all unfold. #911Remembrance #911neverforget

After I watched the second plane hit and heard the news reporter say, “Oh my God,” I immediately called my mom back. I made her stay on the phone with me because I was so scared. I was 21 years old, alone in Los Angeles, and genuinely worried that we could be next. Neither of us knew what to say or what was going to happen. I just really needed my mom on the other end of that phone. I was terrified and felt so alone in my apartment. #911Remembrance #911neverforget

For the next several hours, my mom and I stayed on the phone while I watched people running, screaming and crying on live television. There was so much news coming in all at once, and every update seemed worse than the one before it. I called my Dad to make sure he was ok back in Mn. Literally we all thought this could happen in all major cities so I thought I might be next. There was no social media. There were no instant answers. We had the television, our phones and absolutely no idea what was going to happen next. I don’t even know how many hours I sat there watching. I just know I couldn’t turn it off. #911Remembrance #911neverforget

Then I started seeing people falling from the towers. ( well jumping to death really!) I will never forget seeing one man falling headfirst. I was 21 years old, watching this happen on live TV, and I could not process that these were real people being forced to make an impossible choice. #911Remembrance #911neverforget

Then the first tower collapsed. I remember watching the entire building come down and almost not understanding what I had just seen. It was there, and then it was completely gone. The amount of dust and smoke covered everything. It was absolutely terrifying. #911Remembrance #911neverforget

When the second tower collapsed, I remember thinking, how is this actually happening? Those buildings were filled with people. The collapsing towers and the people falling are the images that traumatized me the most. Twenty-five years later, I can still see them. #911Remembrance #911neverforget

Keep in mind, Los Angeles is three hours behind New York. It was barely 6:00 in the morning. I hadn’t even slept four hours, and I was still hungover and slightly drunk from the night before. And here is probably the most Xennial detail of my entire 9/11 memory. My mom waited for me on the other end of my hot pink Nokia while I made white Wonder Bread toast with butter, white sugar and cinnamon. Then I sat back down in front of the TV and kept watching. It’s funny how the smallest details stay with you. Twenty-five years later, I still remember exactly what I ate. #911Remembrance #911neverforget

I watched the news for the rest of that day and late into the night. Los Angeles basically shut down for the next couple of weeks. The TV shows I was filming stopped production. The commercials I was working on were canceled. Nobody knew when anything would start again. The only other time I have felt something similar was the beginning of COVID. Not because the events were the same, but because everything suddenly stopped. The streets were quiet, work disappeared and nobody knew what was going to happen next. #911Remembrance #911neverforget

I was 21 years old that morning. I’m 46 now. I got to live those 25 years. I got married, had three beautiful children and built an entire life. Nearly 3,000 people woke up that morning expecting a normal Tuesday and never made it home. They never got those 25 years. Their families had to live every single one of them without the person they loved. That is why “Never Forget” means so much. We are not only remembering what happened. We are remembering every life that was taken and every future that was stolen. ♥️ I have never forgotten them. I never will. #911Remembrance #911neverforget