Chasing a dream — that’s what I was doing in New York City in 2001, fresh out of college, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed about putting my brand spankin’ new degree in English to use on somebody’s magazine staff. I’d had my daughter in the first semester of my sophomore year, so I kind of shot myself in the foot when it came to being a candidate for the high-velocity internships that other kids in my field were getting.

Even though there were no Starbucks runs and copy machine masterminding for me at Vibe or Women’s Wear Daily, my mom and Nana were steady cheerleading, and encouraged me to head to the City of Dreams to look for a job in journalism. I could leave my baby girl with them for a week or two so I could make some much-needed contacts, they said. I smothered them with kisses, packed an arsenal of stilettos, and hauled my little Honda Civic up the familiar route on the New Jersey Turnpike, Brooklyn-bound to stay with family.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, I wasn't at home watching in horror as the news unfolded on TV or leaving work and streaming through the streets with mobs of other bewildered New Yorkers. I was racing downtown in a taxi to cover the attacks.

The subways had already been shut down, so I had no choice but to hail a cab. When I told the driver where I wanted to go, he put his head down on the steering wheel for a full 30 seconds and seemed to be praying.

"Okay, Miss," he finally said quietly.

The air was filled with the piercing sound of sirens -- more sirens than I'd ever heard in my life. A thick plume of black smoke wafted over the East River. We were stuck in a massive traffic jam with countless ambulances, fire trucks, and police cars. It was sheer mayhem.

Today is the 10th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks -- a day that we will spending remembering the people that died in the tragedy and reflecting on our own memories of that very sad, scary, and painful day. National memorial ceremonies held at the following locations -- the World Trade Center in New York; the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.; and at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania -- are only open to 9/11 victims' family members. But here's where you can watch them live online or on TV:

My 'hoodFor the past three years, I've lived in downtown Manhattan on Wall Street, about a five-minute walk away from the World Trade Center site. It's hard to believe that, 10 years ago, the area was essentially deserted, with businesses and residents quickly fleeing the historic area. But now it's completely different. It's amazing how much change 10 years can bring about -- so much so that I'm actually happy to call the Financial District home.

Take a look at this photo of the WTC site from Fulton Street. I get to pass by this every single day if I want to. While seeing the new tower emerging in the skyline can be emotional and stirring, at the same time it's pretty exciting to watch the progress they've been making -- especially since the progress has really taken off only in the past couple of years or so.

They call them the 9/11 generation. They're the kids who don't remember the assassination of JFK or the explosion of the Challenger as "the" moment when time stood still. They remember only September 11, 2001, when two planes flew into the World Trade Center and another into the Pentagon while a fourth was taken down by heroic passengers into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. And believe it or not, they're the good news of 9/11. There is such a thing.

It almost doesn't seem possible that it's been a decade since the attacks of September 11, 2001. But 10 years have passed, and over that time, there has been a lot of reflection about what occurred that day. So much has been said or written about the tragedies of 9/11 -- some of it political in nature, scientific, or downright patriotic.

Labels aside, writers, news anchors, politicians, and celebrities alike have commented on how that day changed our country forever, re-shaped us as Americans, and what we have learned from that day. Here, some of the most poignant, reflective quotes about September 11th from the past 10 years.

Jennifer Gardner Trulson was a proud mom watching her son put together a puzzle in his new classroom on his first day of school when the first plane hit the World Trade Center on September 11. That night, she and husband Doug were supposed to take son Michael and his little sister, Julia, to dinner to celebrate. But Doug Gardner never made it home to dinner. The executive for Cantor Fitzgerald died in the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

As the 10th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, Jennifer has decided to share the story of trying to put the pieces of her family back together for her young children in a memoir, Where You Left Me. She spoke with The Stir about keeping her husband's memory alive for their kids, her marriage to the kids' stepfather, Derek Trulson, and the challenge of helping her kids deal with their grief even as she comes to terms with her own loss.

John Travolta in Staying Alive (Twin Towers lit up behind him)Even ten years after the devastating 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and thousands of our citizens, the people of New York aren't used to and probably will never get used to their skyline without the iconic Twin Towers. In their day, the Towers seemed to be a permanent fixture on the Lower Manhattan cityscape, even viewable from Uptown and several other vantage points around the city. They are truly missed.

New Yorkers, however, are not the only ones who miss the towers, which made umpteen appearances in Hollywood films from 1972 to 2001. For film buffs who can't get enough of movies filmed in the Big Apple (or even across the water in New Jersey), there is a void that can't be filled either.