Life is full of extremely difficult circumstances. Circumstances that can run us rampant, beat us down, break us apart, and leave everyone wanting someone to hold them and answer the ever persistent question that they have pounding in their heads: Why?

To be honest, I can’t tell you why the most horrific of events happen to the most respectively innocent of people, but I can tell you that life is more than these events that seem to uproot lives.

Eleven years ago a tragedy struck our country. We were blindsided by the anger and hatred motivating the men who took control over four airplanes and crashed them into the World Trade Center towers in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington D.C. and an open field in rural Pennsylvania.  Families were torn apart and firefighters lost their comrades, and still, today, we ask that same question that has been asked a million times before: Why did this happen?

 I don’t pretend to understand the motives that would so overcome a person to lead them to want to kill thousands of civilians voluntarily. It is my sincerest wish that I would be able to hold every person that was affected by this tragedy; hold them in my arms and tell them that I admire them, their ability to love, their ability to fight through the loss, and their courage.

Those four airplanes were not laden with high priority government officials nor navy seals; they were strewn with families going to Disney Land, spouses returning from business trips, courageous men who would not just sit back and passively go down without a fight. Fighting goes much deeper than brute animal strength; it is the strength of the heart to strive forward, to not let the anger, the sadness, the hatred sit and boil until all that is left is an empty pot – lifeless and depressed. Learning to fight is more than being strong; it’s learning to be humble and realize that there is pain in life and that there is nothing anyone is ever going to do that is going to halt this pain no matter how excruciating it may be.

Everyone has had a struggle in life-something that destroys their hopes and ambitions, creating a common connection with others who have experienced pain.

If there is something in your life, weighing on your heart or-bringing you down, I encourage you to fight through, find a mentor, find fellowship, and know that pain hurts, but it is how we move through the pain and get through the night that eventually brings the dawn.

In remembrance of all of those brave souls whose lives were cut short and all those loved ones who have had to continue to live without them, we honor their memories. Remember their strength, remember their fight and remember them.