Five years ago today, the worst terrorist attacks in American history took place in New York, Pennsylvania, and the Washington, DC area. This day is always hard for me, because I knew several people who lost their lives that day at the World Trade Center. I attended two memorial services for people I knew, and those were some of the hardest moments of my life.

In 2001, I was a well-paid IT consultant on Wall Street. When I worked in Lower Manhattan, I travelled through the World Trade Center every day. I still find it hard to believe that the towers are not there anymore. I've made my peace with it by riding the rebuilt PATH train line into the new World Trade Center Station. The tracks were laid in almost the same place as they had run before the attack.

One day I hope that the events in September 2001 are put in their proper historical perspective. Right now I fear that the political differences between well-meaning people in our society are still clouding some people's judgement.

May the victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks rest in peace, and may peace and understanding be with their families and friends.