A Timeline of Past Events

This blog will continue to serve a purpose, but will no longer contain my wild thoughts on things from 20 years ago. It will always be a place to remember Lt. Charles "Chuck" Margiotta and to keep his memory alive. I had the opportunity to speak with his brother, Mike, over the weekend and what an honor it was. Thank you for your time and your willingness to speak with me and share things about Chuck and life. I'm forever grateful for his service. In lieu of my annual September 11th post, I would like to talk a little about how this all came to be. 

September 11, 2001 

I was a 17-year-old high school senior walking down the hall. One of the teachers stopped me in the hallway to ask if I had seen anything about the attacks yet. I hadn't, primarily because I was an office aid for first period and we didn't have a tv to watch on. The bell rang, and off to second period I went. The tv was on and everyone's eyes were glued to it. We watched in horror as the second plane struck the WTC. Then we found out about the Pentagon. I had family working there at the time so I ran to my mom's office in tears. To say the day was a wash is an understatement. Nothing productive in class happened that day. No one could speak, we were all terrified because no one knew what was going on. We came together as a class, a school, and a community. It was a time where the country was united. 

2005 

A friend of mine told me about a website where you could sign up to remember one of the 2,996 lives lost on September 11th. I was honored to do so, and was awarded Lt. Charles Margiotta. 

2006 

I wrote my very first blog post about Chuck. It was hard to find information about him at the time, but the internet has changed that tremendously. 

2025 

This will be my 19th year honoring him and to say that I'm a different person than I was in 2006 would be an understatement. As I shared with Mike, I told him that when I signed up I was given a name. At that time Charles was just a name, as crazy as that sounds, but today he is an old friend. Someone I've had the pleasure to get to know and remember year after year. I'm so thankful that I could get to know him through the use of technology. He was a fantastic man and I'm honored that he is a part of my life. When I was 21, and signing up for this, I never imagined what this experience would do to me. Who knew that I would connect with Mike, and have the honor of speaking with him? My 21-year-old self could never comprehend what is happening today. This blog isn't just about Charles, and keeping his memory alive, it's about reminding people of a time when our country was under attack, and remembering those who were lost. Today, when I think about 9/11, Chuck always comes to mind. It's no longer about being 17 and in a school building, it's about remembering him, and countless others. I'm no longer 17, or 21, thank goodness, but I have grown in that time. As we head into the 24th Anniversary, please keep the memory of 9/11 in your hearts and the thousands of families that have been affected.