This past Sunday marks 15 years since the 9/11 attacks on our country. Fifteen years. I remember it like it was yesterday. I think that everyone knows where they were, what they were doing, how they were feeling on that dreadful day. I remember being in first grade, anxiously awaiting for September 13th (my birthday) and all pissed off because this had to happen just two days before that special day. *Keep in mind, I was turning six that year*

I was too young to fully understand what was going on. The seriousness of the event. How it affected our country. In the years that followed, we took time in every class on that very day to discuss and remember 9/11. Fifteen years later, I can't help but feel sick to my stomach. Why would someone do this to our country? Why would someone want to hurt others? This is one thing that I will never understand.

I remember watching 9/11 films and documentaries years after the attacks. It was extremely hard to watch the footage, finding it hard to believe that this actually happened on our home soil. Now that I'm older and can fully understand the tragedy of what happened, it makes me wonder: are we safe?

As the years go by, 9/11 seems like more of a distant memory. Not as fresh in our minds. My sister was born in 2001, a month after 9/11. She is now a freshman in high school. The attacks on the Twin Towers as well as the Pentagon are barely discussed in classrooms around the country today. But in the hearts of those who lost their loved ones, it's imprinted in their minds permanently. Nothing will ever replace what they have lost.

Instead of the Twin Towers, the 9/11 Memorial stands in its place. According to the museum's website, "The National September 11 Memorial is a tribute of remembrance and honor to the nearly 3,000 people killed in the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center site, near Shanksville, Pa., and at the Pentagon, as well as the six people killed in the World Trade Center bombing in February 1993.

The Memorial’s twin reflecting pools are each nearly an acre in size and feature the largest manmade waterfalls in North America. The pools sit within the footprints where the Twin Towers once stood. Architect Michael Arad and landscape architect Peter Walker created the Memorial design selected from a global design competition that included more than 5,200 entries from 63 nations.

The names of every person who died in the 2001 and 1993 attacks are inscribed into bronze panels edging the Memorial pools, a powerful reminder of the largest loss of life resulting from a foreign attack on American soil and the greatest single loss of rescue personnel in American history."

For those who had lost loved ones in the attacks, you are not forgotten. We still remember. We still grieve. We will never forget what happened on that horrible day. Almost 3,000 lives were taken in this attack and nothing will ever fill that void.

America has grown stronger and more unified since those attacks. We will continue to grow and keep our people safe. For those who have fought for our country in the past, present, and will in the future: we are so very very grateful for the sacrifices you make for us.

In loving memory of those who were lost in the 9/11 attacks.

Gone, but never forgotten.