No, I don't mean observance.

I realize we already do that through Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance. I mean a real, genuine holiday, the kind that typically cost over $200 million in lost productivity (and that was 1983).

If it followed that pattern, what would be created is a costly day commemorating an attack on our prosperity and economic freedom. Ironic, counter-productive and not likely to make it very far. However, I have a solution.

Before I propose this, why do we need this day?

Exhibit A (for everyone who isn't the president, or maybe him too, you never know):

Know anyone here? Me either. This is just the freshman class of congress. They’re all "noobs," but at least this is from 2015. The last picture I could find of the whole gang was from 2012 – where’s the annual class picture? Where’s the tradition?

Related to the above is the fact that we aren't one nation under anything right at the moment. This is great and terrible at the same time. We need a day to remind us that we are one nation, and we are each one individual. One one, 11, whatever you want to call it. If some have to start with the fact that the only commonality they share with someone else is that they're both breathing, that's already a complicated process. How amazing is it that both of us are converting some invisible oxygen into invisible CO2, and our bodies know how to keep that going 24/7? We both have blood in our arteries and veins, we both have neurons firing at every moment of the day, and we all came into this world the same way (and none of us remember it).

While we share these similarities, what is unique about us?

Sometimes unique is unfamiliar and scary, but it doesn't have to be. Maybe one of us only has one lung. We're still breathing - it's the same thing, it's just different. Maybe one of us wasn't born here, but we're both U.S citizens. That's awesome! Maybe one of us isn't a U.S. citizen yet, but hey, we're both still breathing. Maybe one of us has been addicted to heroin for the past five years (or longer), but if we meet in the future because we're both substance abuse counselors, you might have never guessed it. How beautiful that we all have something in common, but not one of us is the same. The twin towers were a part of the same World Trade Center, but how many features were unique to each building? How many unique individuals entered each building?

This would be a congressional holiday.

This day would celebrate and promote exactly what was attempted to be destroyed 15 years ago. Here's what I've got so far:

First, each congressman and woman goes home to his or her district or area - they pay their own way home this time since I recently discovered the average Member's Representational Allowance (MRA) is $1.25 million a year. Second, they will all forego their pay for the day and spend that amount in the small business(es) of their choice (keep track, you should visit a different one every year). Third, they will celebrate this National Day of Service and Remembrance by going around their local communities (family's welcome), meeting people, and fundraising. Companies cannot donate, only people. Real individuals. The goal will be to raise one dollar for every person they represent.

A website with all members of congress will keep an active track of their donations throughout the day. I'd like to think of it as a sort of Patriotic IU Dance Marathon taking place across the country. Don't know who your district representative is? Watch the local news on Patriot Day to hear their story and then find out what they're doing to fund-raise in your area this year.

This was raised by a bunch of college kids. Pressure's on congress.

Maybe they're attending a memorial, then speaking at a school about 9/11 history, walking with their family or significant other around a small town to talk with business owners, spend their days pay and then hold a rally in the evening to celebrate Patriot Day and collect live donations after the evening commute has finished. Maybe they make a telethon that runs updates through their local TV station during commercials of their state's NFL team game opener. The possibilities are endless.

And the next day, or next week, that same website that tracked donations will show how the money for this year will be distributed, and possibly decided by vote verified by your zip code.

Who can benefit?

Schools, small businesses, promising tech-startups, land conservation in the area, recreation facilities; the possibilities are endless, just like for us.

I'm sure there are roadblocks and it's more complicated that what I've just outlined - security and complaints over singling out congress members for a day off come to mind (even though they aren't getting paid). I'm a problem solver willing to see my own ideas through though, and so is this country, so certainly this could be made to work in some way? We are one, and we are one, and it's time to celebrate that.