10 years ago..

My very first day of teaching was 9-11-01. Exactly 10 years ago today.  It's a day I learned about how strong my country is, how to teach when you didn't have the answers, and what amazing spirits children can be.

I was in law enforcement for almost 20 years. 9-11 hit home very hard because I know I would have run into the twin towers along with all the men and women I've ever worked with. The price public safety paid that day is still immeasurable.  Even today those men and women are paying. Many of them are suffering multiple types of cancers and respiratory diseases that will eventually kill them.  They may not have died on 9-11 but in the days following, their dedication will eventually cost them their lives.

I was a huge cancer research supporter long before 9-11. I watched it decimate my family. After 9-11, I've watched this disease infect many firefighters and cops with its black tendrils of death.  And now I am fighting a cancer that may have been caused by my job.  I will never know if a certain house fire I rushed into was "the one" that caused it. Or was it the car fire a different day? Or was it being in the sun for hours and hours on end directing traffic to keep my community safe because the lights were out? I bring this up because I am fighting to get my previous employer to cover some of my medicals costs.  Many 9-11 responders are still fighting to be treated and cared for. And that's not ok with me or many others.

There is no way to prove that many of the cancers that NYPD and FDNY have contracted are related to 9-11, but we know deep down that that act of terrorism did not end that day.  My heart goes out to the families who lost their spouses, brothers, sisters, cousins, friends and any one else that day. My heart doubly breaks thinking of those still fighting the effects of 9-11 today. Ten years later.