9/11 is my why – it is National Grandparents Day and the anniversary of 9/11. While 9/11 will forever be remembered, it is a monumental day for me. I look on social media and people recount what they were doing on 9/11, but I silently remember. 

 

I had walked away from what, to many, was an amazing job on Wall Street. If I only thought of the job for its lucrative rewards, yes, it was a rewarding position. However, it was not what I felt I should do. After a chiropractor changed my daughter’s life and educated me on how to take control of our health, I walked away from a six-figure job and relocated to South Beach to spend some much-needed time with my daughter. Three years later, my savings started running low, and I contemplated returning to NYC. As I negotiated with different companies, something felt off, and in my heart, I knew I did not want to return to New York for a job that did not fulfill my soul. That week as I contemplated what to do, I was plagued with a gut-wrenching feeling that I should not go back to New York City and work in the financial industry. 

 

On September 11, I should have been working in New York City and at the World Trade Center, but I didn’t go back to that position. Looking back, I can only thank God for everything holding me back from going to a job I knew I didn’t want to return to. Watching the news, the Towers falling, and all the destruction of that day, I still have episodes where I lose my breath. I should have been there. 

 

This tragedy is a part of our history and something I would have been a part of. At that moment, it made me take stock of my life and what I wanted to actually do. Had I followed through with thinking about my future with only a financial view, I would have been right back at work at the trade center. 

 

I honestly didn’t know why I was fighting going back; I just knew that I couldn’t and didn’t want to be there. That day, I decided to go back to school and become a chiropractor. 9/11 was the beginning of my career, and 21 years later, on the remembrance day of 9/11 and National Grandparents Day, I am not only a chiropractor, but I am also a grandmother who feels truly blessed to be alive and assisting others with their health. 

 

I still have nightmares about that day, and my heart hurts for all those we lost. I wish there was something more I could do to honor those that we lost, as some of them are people I know by name and knew personally. All I can do is hold a special place in my heart and try to live my life honoring my friends and those that I have never met in the best way I can.